Someday, on the other side of the rainbow bridge, I'll throw another frisbee for you.

The post I’ve dreaded almost since the day I got her.   Unexpectedly fast, the wiggly ball of fluff so many of you knew from GRS and others from my 912384735 photos, is gone.   All was normal on her walk before work this morning, but she had a heart attack slightly later (forever grateful I was at home!).  I got her to the vet quickly but between neither her lungs nor her heart working properly anymore there was not much they could do.  With an oxygen mask they bought me a few minutes to say goodbye, then shortly after, she died lying with her head in my lap.

Sasha went everywhere with me and was a great car dog!
Also, people at drive-throughs loved her - and her them ;)

Sasha was the ideal dog for me at the right time.  Very much a single human dog (although she made an exception for my Dad whom she loved just as much), and had very little interest in other animals although was kind to all of them (even the barn critters that other dogs hunted).  

She was SO tiny when she first came home!

She would wiggle her bum when excited and cock her head when listening and those two things never, in the entire 14 years we were together, failed to make my heart melt.   

She didn't know the meaning of tired until a couple of years ago;
She never learned the meaning of slow.

Sasha wanted to run - always.  As a younger dog chasing rocks or a ball or her frisbee ring was her favourite thing to do (still can’t believe she never destroyed her teeth!) and she would outlast any human she convinced to play with her.   Always friendly and she could herd with the best of them; it was often amusing watching her try to herd the lesson horses ;).   She also gave confidence to countless nervous riders by showing how easy a jump was because obviously if Sasha could do it, so could their horse!   It was always magical to me to be out hacking w Sasha bounding in and out of the trees around me.   

Snow AND a Ball - life doesn't get much better

She loved the water - swimming and chasing sticks.  But only if she could run or climb in — dock diving was not in her contract.  Watching her and Bailey (the only other animal she ever really bonded with) swim together always made me smile.  

Teamwork

She also loved the snow.   Any deep snowfall was magic to her, and she particularly loved when people shovelled the driveway if they would throw the snow for her.   

She never got why nobody wanted to play outside w her
for long enough in the snow (no time was long enough!)

The last couple years she’s slowed down.  She still wants to do all the things - but not as long or as hard or as fast.   When she runs on our walks now, it’s at a speed I can keep up with (and suffice to say, I am not fast!)  - and even last night she ran a little bit.  Cool fall weather had her feeling good.

We had so many adventures together

Sasha meant the world to me and my world is a much sadder and harder place without her in it.  I just hope she knows how very much she was loved.

I will always love you Sashabear

It's surprisingly easy to misplace a sleeping black dog in the dark ;)

Lost Sasha tonight - you know, the only night I’ve been able to hear coyotes and wolves outside.

She was with me in the main cottage when parents went to bed (parents and I usually bunk in the little cottage) and I was pretty sure nobody had let her out after (would be a complete accident if they had, and the only people to go outside after my parents are animal-savvy so wouldn’t have not noticed her slipping out.  Also not her style - she’s pretty confident in her exits and entrances).  But then I realized baby gate to the basement was open.  The basement where I took her earlier today to cool off.  And where the older kids sleep.  Sure enough, she was downstairs sleeping in the cool basement w the kids.  😂.  The trick, beyond finding a black dog in pitch black, was to call her just loudly enough to wake her without waking anyone else *g*

Deeming that a win though - and honestly, if I didn’t think it would stress my Mum if Sasha wasn’t where she sb in the am, I prob would’ve let her stay.  The kids would’ve loved it ;).  Maybe tomorrow night.

So much fun. So much exercise. So many goals achieved :)

Today’s adventure will be a blog post.   Of the type that the short version is one of the longest posts ever 😂 For your entertainment: 

“Use your imagination” version (originally titled ‘short version’ but that’s such a lie I have to update ;)

- good - more sleep than last night

- bad - not enough and woken at 6:30 by my mum who was frantic cause Sasha was lost

- good - Sash came back on my first call

- bad - wide awake

- good - means I get to take sunrise pics (stunning but way too early!), possibly handstand pics, AND early am swim.

- neutral - Doug (uncle) had a similar idea

- bad - water wasn’t the stunning glass-flat it can be

- good - it was still *very* quiet making for good handstand practice conditions

- bad - video died on like the 2nd effort and wasn’t exactly quality videography 

- good - I acknowledged that I really wanted a good sunrise pic of handstands and Doug is an incredible photographer who actually likes a challenge lol combined w being v patient.  So willing to play this game.

- bad - wrong clothes so I’m afraid that even if he got an *amazing* shot, it still won’t look good :(

- good - best stand ever! And called it on a good note.  

- bad - it was *after* my phone died ;-P

I was SO excited by this 😂 
PC: Doug Hern

- neutral - immediately after I was done, the lake went mirror-flat.  Sun was up by then though.   

- good - this made for amazing swimming, esp as I’m not a strong swimmer

- bad - I’d forgotten goggles and can’t swim properly without them cause contact lens.  

- good - reassured Sasha who’s okay w me going in the water as long as I get right back out but panics if I’m swimming or treading water or being eaten by a giant donut 

It took Sasha a while to believe the donut wasn't going to hurt me.

- bad - It was not yet 9am and I was ready for a nap ;) 

- good - cousin wanted to go waterskiing, which means I *also* would get to go waterskiing 

- bad - I am not good at waterskiing 😂  Last year was the first time since I was a tween that I tried it, and it took many many many (copy and paste) attempts to get up.  And I loved it.  But then I was sore for weeks.

- also bad - somewhat concerned that waterskiing muscles might overlap significantly with handstand muscles which had already delivered their contractual hours today and really this week ;)

- good turns out they’re a LOT stronger than last time, as is my body awareness and ability to coach myself through new skills I know nothing about ;)

- bad - I self coach OUT LOUD;  while nobody could hear me, I can only imagine what my spotter in the boat must’ve thought ;).  Accelerating rapidly toward my crazy old lady title ;)

- good - it worked?!?!   Up on second time, stayed up in and out of wake, and didn’t let go till I got back.  Soooo excited and proud of myself.

- neutral - huge thunderstorm after lunch.

- bad - I was alone in the backup cottage so I could put on dry clothes (extra sleeping places really - when they built new, they kept the old and just moved it over) when the storm hit.  All entertainment (my books, phone, etc) in the main cottage.  

- good - I LOVE a thunderstorm in the woods.  In general really but especially there.

- neutral - it lulled me into a nap of coma level depth

- bad - I slept through milkshakes

- good - I felt human again afterwards AND all storm repair had already been completed by those who didn’t storm nap (3 or 4 of us, incl those who invited us up, got in great naps).

- good Chris just arrived :)

Rest of the day admittedly neutral, but cottage neutral with is normal-life excellent.   I will likely sleep very well tonight 😂. 

I'm sure you've heard the thing about herding cats, but have you heard about cats herding?

So Nola has learned basic herding skills from Sasha.  But she doesn’t have Sasha’s patience so it’s really quite entertaining.

For instance - my office and my bedroom are at opposite ends of the hall, with the stairs in the middle.  After work I generally go downstairs and feed the critters.  So about 4:45 Nola will appear and stare at me.  From 5-5:30 or so she’ll start knocking things off any elevated surface to get attention lol.  Then when I get up she’ll try to herd me toward the stairs.   But when we get to the stairs she runs down then - which means if I dare to keep going to my bedroom for some reason is she *ever* annoyed lol.  OMG.   So she’ll start yelling every second or so till she eventually comes back up to yell at me from closer (stupid human) after which, if I head toward the stairs, the whole thing will start again lol

Sasha meanwhile knows enough not to commit to the stairs till she’s pretty sure I’m actually going ;).  And even then she follows me down, blocking the way back up, just to be sure.

Vaguely related - the Mythbusters episode re Herding Cats is mildly amusing if you're inclined to google ;)

Still the bestest puppy

Flashback to puppy Sasha

Sasha turned 9 this week.  Totally cannot believe it!  She still looks and acts about 2 ;).  The only difference is more breaks in playtime and a longer recovery after.

Approximately half an hour after we got home

But middle age Sasha is the perfect running buddy for middle aged me!   We went out together and her preferred default trot speed pretty well matches my pathetically slow jog speed (lol as in only marginally faster than a walk).  And she’s the best pace buddy cause if I slow down, she’ll walk for a few strides, then look over her shoulder at me and try jogging a few steps.  Like “comeon’ Laur, time to start again” :).  She also allows for critical breaks by occasionally needing to stop and sniff something or play in the creek ;)

My *tired* puppy ;)

So yeah - both of us may be sore tomorrow but was a lovely fall morning run today.

My dog does this amazing thing where she makes my world better simply by being in it.

So. Much. Randomness.  I figure at least four posts in one. Consider yourself forewarned...

Sasha has taught me all sorts of things since I've had her -- some more important than others ;)   She's taught me to be wary of squirrels, and diligent about keeping the yard free of them.  She's taught me that frisbees are a little part of Heaven and that one should never walk when you can bound with enthusiasm.

She's shown that one should always go adventuring with a friend, that trying new foods is bad, and that even those with the most energy need a nap once in a while.

But today she taught me some new lessons.  Let's see:
- the kindness of strangers really is a thing
- sometimes you have to let go
- sheer determination is not always sufficient

It was one of those "did that really just happen?" moments...  She was with me at the barn, so I went with her to play at the pond when I was done teaching.  She loves playing at the pond.  She found a stick that I threw for her -- a favourite game.  This pond is the best of the ones she gets to play in because she can run in rather than jump.  So all good.   Except, there's a hose in the pond, and a little part of it was sticking out.  So she jumps in after the stick, but loses site of it and fixes on the hose instead.  Uh oh.  She grabs the hose, all proud of herself, and it doesn't move at first, but with some effort she starts pushing it toward the shore.

Okay, prob not the best for the hose, but it's pretty solid and seems all good.  Except about 3' out from the edge, the hose stopped moving.  So she swam harder against it, and it still didn't move.  And I could see her getting progressively more exhausted.  "Leave it" is not a command we've ever schooled in the water -- she's great at it with anything when she's on her feet, but apparently not swimming :(   Ugh.

I was just about to go out and get her (water would've been about to my knees), when Fraser stopped me -- he had big boots on and taking in the situation promptly stepped in and pulled the hose, and therefore Sasha, to the shore...   Poor Sash was very wet, tired, and stressed.  She very quickly decided Fraser was a great new friend though doing her"you're the best person ever" bum shake.

Poor bedraggled puppy

She slept all the way home and then bounded into the house to play with Bailey, so all good.  But still.  Sheesh.

On the flip side, this reminds me of this article I came across the other day.  It's a thinly disguised advertisement, but it has an interesting point.  "When does being tough become a liability rather than an asset?"  It suggests it's when we'd be more successful if we got help.  This is one of these things that I only began to understand when I was running the farm -- I actually *can't* stack 20,000 bales of hay by myself in one weekend, so I had to ask for help.  That was the easiest to accept, because it was actually needed.  Same with our house renos -- some of it is simply too heavy for me to move; I actually need help to get it done.  Frustrating at times, but sobeit.  But learning to ask for (or even just accept) help that's offered when not entirely necessary is one I still find myself struggling to master.  Spend your life learning to be independent only to have to unlearn it.  Classic eh?

And as for our house -- we have walls!!!!   Never would I have thought that'd be the highlight of my week, but here we are.  And even more exciting -- next weekend we might even have plumbing :) hahhaha Spent the weekend sweeping and vacuuming.  Not just floors, oh no, that'd be average.  Sweeping and vacuuming walls, ceiling, AND floors.  Craziness.  All this for the ever-exciting priming.  hahaha ah well - at least it's visible progress.  There's something to be said for this.

I actually considered writing a mini-post in the dust,
but in the interest of productivity, and amused by using the vacuum to write,
I left it at this.  And maybe a happy face.

So the non-renovation part of the week involves taking the train daily.  Wow.  That's a special experience.  I think it could actually be a blog all in itself -- might amuse me for the duration ;)  I *love* the quiet zone (for those unfamiliar with the wonders of GO Transit, the quiet zone is the top floor of the train that, during rush hour, is quiet.  Electronics silenced, little to no conversation, just quiet.)  This is a fabulous idea. Although always have to laugh at the guys (and it does always seem to be men) who break the silence with their snoring.  hahaha the one sitting across from me the other day was snoring in a "white noise" style -- he sounded like static.  Seriously unfortunate.

But since lots of people like the quiet zone, I don't always get a seat up there...  Listening to conversations of strangers makes me fear for the future of the human race.  Most of the time what I hear is so stupid or ignorant it's actually painful to listen to (when you don't have anything accurate or intelligent to say, make up for it by speaking louder!).  I really need to invest in a good set of headphones *sigh*   But - I was quiet pleasantly surprised to spend the ride the other day listening to the very intelligent conversation of two teenage girls -- based on conversation I'd say they were likely senior year of high school.  They ranged from critical evaluation of homework that had been returned (rather than complaint of the grade, a discussion about why the grade was given and what would've improved it), what they were doing at their current jobs, and even some discussion about seniors and how to improve quality of life in retirement homes.  So random, and they switch topics as quickly as Jen and I tend to ;)   It was really cool to listen to.   

Then there's waiting on the platform...  For those who like to people watch, that's the place to be.  There's always the one person who either thinks they're super cool to be talking on their phone, or who is brand new to a cell phone and feels the need to yell into it.  There are the lemmings, standing perfectly still, staring straight ahead and seeing nothing.  There are usually at least a couple people be-bopping to whatever music is playing in their headsets.  There's generally one person who wants to stand in the middle of the platform, but keeps darting up to peer down the tracks and see if the train's coming yet, and then darts back again.  Of course copious amounts reading or on their phones; I admit I'm often in that category.  And then there are the ones that you just don't really know what they're doing.  They're what keeps life entertaining :)

Today it was two ladies -- my guess would be in their 50s.  They were heavier, blond of the sort that comes in a bottle, and very happy.  Standing directly across the tracks from one another.  I did a bit of a double take because they looked very similar, but then didn't think anything of it.  An east-bound train came through and kept driving.  When it passed, both women were laughing.  Always good to be easily amused.  Next train came and I realized they were making faces at each other through the passing windows.  Let's be honest -- I'd probably do the same thing with my friends ;)   Although most people I know go to the same platform when they're travelling together.  So this one actually stopped, and the other platform doors opened first.  I saw the lady on my platform give her friend a thumbs up.  hahaha apparently they were concerned enough about getting seats that they parked one on each side so whichever door opened first that person could save a seat for the other.  Not an entirely bad system, although the timing isn't so far off that you couldn't get a seat from either side...   Amused me anyways -- and seemed to amuse them too, so all good.

And completely unrelated (how's that for a segue?) since this is the most random blog post ever, I have to include my recent entirely random experience.  Tonight the doorbell rang.  I figured it was a sales person of some form but the last sales person was like 10 yrs old and selling girl guide cookies, so I answered it.  A representative of Ontario Farmers who would like to give me a free steak.   Ummmm I'm sorry, what?  hahaha absolutely the most random thing ever.  Sadly I am not, in fact, the house owner so couldn't help relieve him of his dead cow, but I was definitely amused by the whole experience.

And the other day I went for a walk at lunch (imagine that -- I actually had a lunch break!) and discovered that Tim Hortons downtown does the Canadian tourist thing to a whole new level:

But far more importantly, I discovered this random city-beach.  Carved out of the cement is this nice rectangle of beach with umbrellas and Muskoka chairs.  It was so lovely.  Kinda made my day.

Love this!

Bailey's telling me to go let Sasha in, so I'm off. I suspect that's for the best *g*  Night!

I'm back.

Alright so it's time to get back to business...   Some of you may be aware that my darling grey mare (lately irreverently known as Her Royal Greyness) has been, ummmm, shall we say less than a priority as of late...  I can count on one hand the number of times she's been ridden since November, and on both hands the number she's been worked in any way, shape or form.   From she who has always been 100% dedicated, this is unheard of.  But then, my world did kind of implode.

Anyways -- I decided to run away for a week and allow the real world to start when I got back.  I got back on Thurs.  Figured I'd start riding back on Friday.  Deemed sleep was the better option *g*  AND it *was* Valentine's, so felt I really shouldn't hang around after work to ride.  Saturday the pieces finally came together and my high-as-a-kite pony got lunged.  All good and appropriate for the first work in who-knows-how-long...  Sundays I've been trying really hard to keep as "lazy Sundays" that I can either hang around and do nothing, or spend time with friends and family, or - get this - both!  hahaha but I *am* making a concerted effort (at least until show season) not to book anything then.  So it was a given she'd have yesterday off.

Today all ready to go.  Hit the gym, got a number of chores done, on my way out the door...  And Jen calls. Jen who moved to France last summer.  Who I never get to see and very rarely get to talk to anymore.  Yes, she outranks Lexi.  Esp an unfit, untrained Lexi...  Sorry all, but two-legged family before four in this case.

Alright so I hang up at the last possible second before I have to go teach.  Feeling moderately guilty and disappointed with myself for not working my horse, but sobeit.  Getting to the barn however, I discover I only have one student.  Strange -- although not so strange when I realized it's reading week and suspect all the uni students have gone home...  But still, unexpected.  And usually when a group lesson ends up with only one person, I do a half-hour private instead.  But then it occurred to me, why not ride?   Wouldn't be the first time I've ridden and taught at the same time.  Admittedly that's usually reserved for cross-country, but hey -- it's all good.   And the one rider who was there was both competent (so if Lex was an idiot, I wouldn't have to worry about causing trouble for her) and easy-going enough to go along with this whole idea :)   So figured we'd do the whole time, but I'd ride as well.   Realistically Lex wouldn't last an hour anyways, so I was reasonably certain that my student would still get a decent amount of coaching time.

Sounds great right?   What could go wrong with this?  Lexi's been ridden at night before.  Once.  Months ago.   She hasn't been ridden since about two weeks before vacation.  Barn manager told me she was spun today.  She's been ridden with other horses eight times in her entire life -- including the five clinic days ;)  And the last one was the Hyde clinic in October...   Oh, and one boarder, two kids, and Sasha were also all in the ring.  Definitely setting us up for success ;)

And I won't be lunging before mounting.  She's slightly cold backed and hasn't been sat on in ages.  Arguably a poor life choice, but sobeit.

You know what?  She was awesome.  Stiff and cold -- there was definitely a rather large buck hidden there when I got on, but she never threw it.  She was super nasty to the boarder's horse -- going to have to work on riding her w/ strange horses...  And the rider (who was finishing up as we got there) was awesome about giving us extra space.  We played a little bit of follow the leader with Athena, which gave us more forward gaits than I usually get.  So that had me grinning.  Then she even managed some independently.  Cantered - on *both* leads - calmly and mostly under control.  I say mostly because the steering left something to be desired ;)   But I have faith we'll get that back shortly.  Even jumped a couple small fences.  Woohoo!   She's feeling very gangly and uncoordinated...  But then she's grown since she was last in work and she's super unfit, so really -- what could I expect?

Then she really earned her gold star, by remaining focused in the walk and a little trot while my student was cantering and doing other such fun things; an impressive surprise.  Of course it's possible she was *slightly* tired at this point ;)   Earlier, when I'd gotten off her earlier to set fences, I had asked Faith to hold her -- reasonably certain she wouldn't go anywhere...  To put this in perspective, Faith's still several years from being a teenager and thus very short.  I wish I'd had a photo as child comes up to Lexi's shoulder and pony's head was *way* over hers...   We're in an indoor ring, L's ground manners are good, and F has grown up with horses.  I wasn't too concerned but kept an eye on them just in case.   When we were done I gave Lexi to her to hold for a bit (after declining her offer to hop on and cool her out for me -- don't quite trust Lex *that* much yet!) and pony's head was down by Faith's hand, and she followed Faith around as quietly as could be.  Super cute, but one tired pony.  After all of about half an hour - mostly at trot.   We're going to have a LONG way to go to be event fit by summer!   But that let me set fences for the rest of the lesson while Lexi cooled out :)

So yeah -- did we do anything impressive?  Nope.  Anything even moderately acceptable to be seen in public?  Nope.  But you know what?  I had *fun*.  With my horse.  Imagine that :)   It's been a while.  And she was significantly better behaved than I'd even dreamed.  That counts for a lot.  Her pony brain was challenged and she still tried.  A good sign for upper levels :)   Lots of carrots...

And side note -- I was SO happy with Sasha.  She was playing with a lunge whip and when told to leave it -- did.   Lexi was growing noticeably concerned about the giant snake coming up behind her -- I wasn't sure how that was going to go.  Esp as she tends more toward the fight than flight instinct...  Yes I like my horses to get used to *everything* -- part of why kids and puppies are welcome in the ring when I'm schooling young ones, and why all my schoolies no longer blink at anything -- but sometimes even I have to draw the line ;)  Good puppy!   I've actually been super happy with several tests of Sasha's training lately.  Not that there's not still lots to work on, but still...  Can't wait till we can go back to agility :)

Oh yeah - I was in Cuba for a week.  It was amazing ;)   And yes, it will get a blog post.  Too long for tonight -- thought I'd just write this short one instead.  Yes, I said short.  You're not new here ;-P   Summary of Cuba post:  35 degrees and sunny on the most beautiful beach I've ever seen.  No need to hate me - I'm back in reality now.  Tanned - but back >;-P

Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia. - E.L. Doctorow

So that title -- oh so true.  So many times my characters do something that was just not in the plans and mixes everything up.  Usually for the better, but I'm not always pleased about it.  A couple times I've had characters randomly insert themselves into the story; they didn't exist, they weren't supposed to exist, and I have nothing for them to do.  But suddenly they're there and I have to work with them.  Or worse, when somebody important dies or gets lost or some other tragedy.  Well they were supposed to stick around -- how can it work without them?

"But you're the writer, you say what happens..."  Ummm well I've sort of discovered that's not true.  At least, not for my best writing.  When I try to control what happens I get mediocre stories -- some of my flash attempts have been of that forced writing.  It might be salvageable.  Might even be reasonable.  But it's not going to be something that sticks with you or leaves you wondering what happens next.  If, instead, I just record the story as it plays out in my head -- even when it doesn't go the way I want it to -- the results are much better.  It's very weird and it's very hard to explain, but I've learned from talking to multiple really successful writers, that it is normal.  Or what passes for normal for a writer *g*

So yeah, I may be slightly schizophrenic, but I write it down, so it's okay.  And when the story's gone, the characters leave my head.  If they don't leave, their story's not done.  It's as simple and horrifyingly involved as that.  And I have to admit, I find it *really* amusing when my characters do things I don't expect them to.  Frustrating, occasionally, but always entertaining.  I think it might be one of the main things that makes storytelling so interesting to me.

So in a marathon session that gave me far too little sleep between yesterday and today, the first draft of the next book is complete.  Longer than the last one and a little more complex, but similar style.  I suspect this one might make a series :)  Have several ideas for book two even though book one is still so rough nobody else is going to be allowed to see it yet *g*   Sheesh.

The crazy assassin one I was writing is completed (again only in rough) -- and also set up in such a way it could be a series.  Yikes!  But I think I want to get a few more of the fantasy type published first; I'm a little less disturbed by those.  hahaha although I will admit I had a lot more fun researching that one *g*

Both sets of characters are still living in my head, so clearly their stories aren't done yet.

Have learned all sorts of interesting ideas about book promotion and marketing, but one of the things that seems most prevalent is there's not a whole lot of point unless you have more than one book *sigh*  Sooooo figured I'd keep writing first, continue to be hugely grateful for the awesome people who've been supporting my efforts, and then attempt to make it reasonably successful after there's something there to market.  That might change, but realistically -- there are only so many hours in the day.  I'd rather apply them where they have a hope of being useful!

Am amazed at how this has sort of taken over my life though.  New 'friends' on Facebook that I feel like I've known for years.  More free books to read than I could ever have a hope of reading *g* -- talk about an unexpected perk!  All sorts of information and advice and basically a whole world I didn't even know existed.  And the best part is -- they're welcoming and incredibly supportive of new writers.  Pretty cool.   Of course connected fastest with the other horse people :)  It's amazing how very quickly that detail becomes obvious.

And speaking of horses -- my little mare was such a superstar today.  Found her "big trot" hahaha -- all kinds of forward.  Realistically I'd say this was the first lesson I've had on her where I worked even a little.  She's slowly getting fit and broke enough that I can actually start to ride her.  Woohoo!

And then just because that's the way my life works, while Lexi was working on lengthening, Sasha was working on collection *g*  hahaha classic eh?  I'm out of puppy school for the summer and seriously missing it.  Sash clearly was too -- I wish I'd recorded how excited she was when she saw where we were.  But I had a couple make-ups from ages ago, so did one of those today.  So much fun!  Sash really is a star.  I wish I had more time and $ to dedicate to training her for this particular game but...  Eventually something has to give *sigh*   Now what I really need, is agility gear at the barn.  Then I'd be set!  hahaha

Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read. -- Groucho Marx

Really wasn't interested in going to agility class today -- tried and distracted with other things.  But Sash really likes it and I've paid for the lessons, so at the last second I got my butt in gear and got us to class (only like 5 min late -- oops!)

Sooo glad I went though.  What a blast.  The first half of the class was skills.  Sasha picked up one we've never tried before on about the third try -- super-smart puppy!  It's so fun to watch her figure stuff out, and she gets soooo proud of herself, trotting around with her frisbee *g*   Then she did all the weave poles with only one wire on!   Woohoo!  She seems to quite like those -- if I'm not paying attention she'll randomly go wander through them or over the dogwalk.  hahaha   The teeter-totter otoh is still a little scary, but she's doing it now.  Just still nervous about it.  More practice needed!  Sadly I lack a teeter-totter at the barn *sigh*  Ah well.

Then the second half of the class was course running -- and it was almost all jumps, which Sasha loves.  So always highly entertaining.  Esp now that she's jumping them at height (they seem huge to me since she can easily walk under them, but she doesn't seem to care).  Had a great lightbulb moment in handling for this one which'll hopefully make us a little more successful *g*   She's super-eager but sometimes her enthusiasm and speed outdistance my handling abilities *g*   Hahaha ah well, we'll get our act together some day.

First draft of new book is done!  Woohoo!  Now to convince myself to ignore it for a couple weeks before looking at it again.  hahaha we'll see.

Other book...  So very close!   Look for official launch soon!  Super stoked about that!

Mix a little foolishness with your serious plans. It is lovely to be silly at the right moment. -- Horace

Got on Athena today for the first time since last summer.  That mare just makes me grin like a little kid on a pony.  I don't know what it is about her but from the first ride she's had that effect on me.   That being said, omg does she ever make me appreciate Lexi *g*   Athena tries her heart out and yet will never have a fraction of the movement, balance and coordination Lex has at four without even trying.

Sasha was *such* a superstar at puppy class on Thurs.  Starting to make her way through the weaves with fewer and fewer guides and a fair amount of speed :)  Even went bravely across the teeter-totter.  She is totally addicted to the A-frame though -- that's a little excessive :)  hahahah seems totally ok with the chute (tunnel with the all but the opening collapsed) -- runs through knowing there'll be a frisbee flying on the other side *g*  Now I just have to convince Lexi to be so brave and we'll be all set!   Ah the joys of baby animals.

Readers of fantasy -- I stumbled upon The Book of Deacon the other day.  And promptly got nothing else done.  hahaha it's a good trilogy, but be warned -- it's not three stories in the same world, it's one story in three books. So don't start reading till you don't need to surface for a couple days.  Unless, unlike me, you're not *quite* as obsessive about things and are actually capable of putting a book down and functioning in real life.

And while we're at it - another shout out for Lindsay Buroker - if I had to pick a single favourite fantasy series, it just might be her Emperor's Edge books.  Tbh, the description of them didn't really appeal to me and the cover actually turned me off entirely.  Even though it was *free* I didn't read it for months because everything else always seemed more appealing.  But when I did get into them?  By about the third chapter I was hooked, and each book was better than the one before.  Her books have a loose plot running through them all, but each is also its own unit so it's not quite as life-sucking to start the series.  But by far the best part about them is the character development.  Her two primary characters will leave you randomly wondering some day, hey I wonder what they're up to now?  The writing is light, so you feel like you're flipping through quickly and don't have to think too hard, but the books are reasonably long so there's no loss.  It's possibly the only series I've read of more than about three books, that doesn't lag in the middle (Sword of Truth anybody?  Fabulous start and end - the first as a stand-alone is one of my fav fantasy reads, but may as well skip half a dozen in the middle of the series).  And some of it is quite sharp - good one-liners.  Definitely worth a read - esp as the first one is free in ebook.  If you don't enjoy it, all you've lost is a few minutes of dl time.

And as far as writing goes - had real hope for a FridayFlash today -- but it turns out it's already Saturday *sigh*   Oops.  Sorry about that.  hahaha  Not exhausted yet though so maybe next week's magic might happen?  Admittedly don't really have any ideas floating though -- still stuck in Jezina's world as I'm in what *should* be the LAST round with my editor!  Woohoo.  If the world is good my book will be available May-ish :)  Maybe even earlier in ebook format.  Can you believe it?   I can't - not really.   But then I also hardly believe I get to go to the barn instead of the office every morning *g*   hahaha  Speaking of - had a blast teaching tonight.  Extreme gymnastics *g*  And the girls did an amazing job with them!  Woohoo!

Ok yeah, happy day - you get the point.  I think I need a little less caffeine.  Later :)

Of puppies and ponies

Yesterday Sasha went to agility class.  I can't believe how much fun it is.  I'm not surprised *she* loves it -- I am surprised how much *I* enjoy it.  hahaha We're still practicing the teeter-totter, now with more speed which goes much better.  But everything else is starting to be put together.  We got to do some courses and it was highly entertaining.  Puppy did everything she was asked to.  Passed with flying colours.

Her handler otoh...  Oh dear.  Off course two...?  three? times.  Omg.  You'd think after the, what?  Couple thousand courses and dessage tests I've memorized over the years an eight-obstacle course would be fairly simple.  And tbh the order of the obstacles wasn't even remotely an issue.  But running the course I'd get pointed slightly the wrong way and send Sasha off to never never land.  And this is why we walk our courses *sigh*   You'd think I'd know better by now >;-P   Not that I didn't know where we were supposed to go, but I didn't manage to convey that info to my wonderful puppy.  hahaha but since *she* didn't get to see the course map ahead of time she still got rewarded and play time.  After all - she went where she was told, it wasn't her fault I didn't tell her to go where I actually wanted her to.  My coach is quite good with the details of how my body alignment directs Sasha and when I can implement them all it goes reasonably well.  hahaha I think that's part of why I'm enjoying it so much -- firstly because it's a lot of fun to play with Sash, esp when she's clearly having a blast.  But also because it's actually an entirely new challenge to learn.  I didn't really expect that, but it is.  So entertaining.

And with the critter I *do* sort of know how to direct, my  lesson this am was somewhat bemusing.  Since my horse is not fit enough to really work for an hour and, quite frankly, doesn't have the attention span either, I don't warm her up before my coach gets there like I usually would.  End result is that if he's early, I'm still tacking up.  So was the case this am and we chatted while I was getting her ready and I put her on the lunge line for a few minutes -- all good.  He put some poles down for her to go over.  No problem.  So I stopped her and was going to turn around and go the other way but I guess paused just a little too long and my coach came over, took the lunge line from me, "let me help with that..."  hahaha oh dear, you know it's been a rough day when...  In what three years?  Four?  I'm not sure exactly but a long while, he's taken over exactly once before (although in that case it was riding rather than lunging).   But since my hands were blocks of ice at this point and I wasn't entirely functioning well I just handed her over and exited the circle.  hahaha warmed myself back up, set a few poles, and eventually when he was done lunging her I got on to ride.  Get less than half way around "are you okay today?"  hahaha I must've been in quite some state.  I know it's been a long week and I'm tired but I didn't think it was *that* bad >;-P

Ah well - I redeemed myself and Lexi chose to behave herself and in the end we had a reasonably good ride.  Still mostly working on forward.  Seriously basic.  Taking me way longer with this mare than anything I've ever started.  Esp as I didn't even really start her - she'd been backed and had two n a half gaits before she came home.  But it is getting better now.  And I suspect when the light goes on, it's *really* going to shine.  But for now three gaits, two directions and zero meltdowns is pretty much all I'm asking for.

This has been....  Quite the week.

2013 - Best. Year. Yet!

So my day off was wonderful :)  Relaxing and easy and I even got some stuff done!  Woohoo.

Was pretty entertained by Sasha.  She's pretty spun these days since we haven't been spending *as* much time running around the barn so I was trying to entertain her.  Layout is important for this story so stick with me here.  Our stairs at home go up the center of the house and then split to either side.  If you stand on the landing and turn back towards the entrance, there's a floating balcony that attaches to the master bedroom.   So I was standing on one side and throwing a frisbee downstairs so Sash would have to run all the way down, get it, and run all the way back -- a feeble effort to tire her out.  But then just for amusement sake, I threw it onto the balcony.  Sash runs down to the landing and looks across.  Looks at me.  Leans across.  No such luck.  Looks at me.  Looks at frisbee.  Then totally perks up, runs into the master bedroom and pauses to turn and look over her shoulder like she does when we're playing and she's winning ('nah nah look what I've got').  Then sure enough she appears seconds later on the balcony, finds her frisbee and brings it back at top speed.  *Very* smart puppy :)   Hahaha so that was my entertainment of the day :)

Had some fun with my FB the other day -- posted "Tonight's challenge: describe 2012 in one word."   I was amazed at some of the answers and how many lead to a story.  Some, I know -- and they were bang on in their word of choice.  Some I don't know, but am now curious about :)  And some make me inclined to write my own story *g*  Some very positive and some the opposite.  And the one that ended the thread was absolutely perfect to do so :)  So I thought I'd share:

And as Theresa said, it's over.  Time to move on :)   So much to look forward to!   It's hard to beat some of the stuff I've done in previous years, but even being "tied down" by the farm, I can't help but think there're still tons of adventures just waiting for me to find them!  They just need a little more strategizing sometimes *g*

So New Year's Eve was fun.  I had no actual plans beyond inviting some people over. In the end Emily and Rebecca joined me for an exceptionally exciting evening of pancakes and movies *g*  hahaha ok so I may not win party-planner of the year, but I had fun at least :)  Good company and some laughs -- pretty decent way to usher in a new year.

Today was slight chaos -- feed, turn-out (which took much longer than normal as we were changing *two* sets of turn-out buddies and had to supervise etc), waters, deliver Apollo to new home, get back in time for two new horses to move in, get them settled, feed, bring in...  Wait, what about stalls???  Let's just say I have *awesome* friends.  I'd probably still be mucking if not for Rebecca and Steph who came and did ALL the stalls for me -- and in record time!   I actually made it home by supper time!  hahaha 9-6, totally normal work day.  So long as you ignore the whole stat holiday idea *g*

And as for entertaining chaos - PUPPIES!!!   Stephy brought Brie to play with Sasha.  And at first Sash was terrified of her! hahaha I couldn't believe it!  But then she decided this was about the best toy ever and the game was on.  Sooooo cute.

Off for now.  Here's to an amazing 2013 with at least one interesting chapter :)