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Sunday, July 26, 2009

Lompoc Dog Show July 25-26, 2009

The show actually ran Thursday through Sunday, but we drove down Friday morning and I only entered Cyrus on Saturday and Sunday. My goal for the weekend was for him to have a good time for his first show. He has a long memory for bad experiences (don't we all?) and I didn't want to start him off with a dislike of the ring. In that respect, we came home winners because I think he enjoyed himself. Bits of leftover prime rib in the ring on Sunday may have helped. He did come home with a ribbon from Saturday, but statistics were with him. There were only five puppies in his class.

There was a grand family reunion, with most of the puppies from the litter attending. Cyrus would definitely like to see more of Layla, preferably where there is sufficient fenced ground for running around like the whirling dervishes they are.


If there was a ribbon for cute, Cyrus would have come in first.


Left to right the dogs are: Kodi, Cyrus, Pearl, Rider, Aria, Strider, Layla, JJ, Solaris, and Quila.



I think this is the best still shot from the ring. He's doing a whippet impression, which is his way of saying, "Mom, the grass is wet and cold and icky." Or, "I don't like the judge" or "I'd rather put my feet where I want to put them" or "This is boring, let's go play with Layla." The whippet impression is very versatile. He uses it often.


Cyrus held it together pretty well his first day, I think. He was a champ about letting a stranger open his mouth and feel him all over. It wasn't until we completed the "down and back", and the judge tried to pat his head, that he decided enough was enough. As we set out for our last trip around the ring, you can see him keep looking over his shoulder... "Is that scary guy still after me? He might be following us!"


Sunday, July 5, 2009

New House Updates

Oh, the blessing of knowing men with "skills." In this case, tile-laying skills. Thank you, thank you, to Dad and Aaron for all their hard work (and Mom and Matt for helping clean grout lines, grout, keep up a steady supply of clean water and tile, etc. Don't think I sat back and twiddled my thumbs, I helped clean and grout in the back rooms, until I wore out my knees crouching on the floors). Anyway, the bedrooms are nearly all finished, with a little bit of tile left to lay in the master closet, thanks to the hard work of my dad. Yay, Dad!

Aaron came over yesterday to help start the living room. Between the two of them, they laid more than 100 sq ft of tile in one go. Rock on! The smaller, 12" tiles seem to go faster than the 16" we picked for the bedrooms. It looks gorgeous.

Props also to Matt for the idea for the inlaid white/charcaol border in the living room.

This is early in the afternoon, not long after Aaron arrived.

This is much later in the evening, but still before Dad finished the last of the bucket of Mastik/thinset and we decided to call it a night. There is even more tile set than this picture shows. All I can say is, wow. Also, much better than any stinkin' laminate!


Lovely, ain't it? No dog pictures this time. They had to hang out outside to avoid messing up the tile. Thankfully, Mya is blasee about fireworks (the neighbors were having a huge block party, with occasional mortars going up) if her person is relatively near, Emily can't hear them any more, and Cyrus was willing to be convinced that fireworks were no big deal after I sat out and held him in my lap for a while, whilst Emy and Mya wandered around and ignored the loud noises. Good dogs, all!