Some of the Recent Happenings....

September 25th, 2009: Jackson had to go to the vet. His stomach was upset as it had been since Wednesday, and I needed to have it checked out. Well $100 later he was on medicine for his tummy, and he's negative for Parvo, parasites, and Giardia. So that's good. He hates swallowing those pills twice a day though.

-Jackson waiting like a good boy for his doctor to call him.-


September 26th, 2009: Jackson was feeling much better with that medicine in his system. So I went ahead and took him to his Intermediate training class. He was so excited to meet the remainder of his new classmates. The female Great Dane: Calli, the male Golden Retriever: Jake, the male (not sure what mix): Fenway. Unfortunately, Tommy (the Jack Russell) wasn't able to make it this time. But some next Saturday they should all be there.

-Jackson wrestling with the 7 month old, 75 lbs Calli-

-Jackson sharing his water dish with Jake-

-Jackson, Jake and Fenway having a good time-

September 27th, 2009: On Sunday, Jackson ultimately came along on the hike I had been planning with my neighbor girl, Shelby. I think he had alot of fun considering it was his 2nd hike, and he had 3 girls loving up on him the whole morning. We went to Siphon Draw Trail, which is at the Lost Dutchman area. It's 3.2 miles, medium difficulty. Fairly rocky and uphill. Still had a blast.-He's such a stud-

-Jackson and I in front of the Superstitions shortly after sunrise.-


September 28th, 2009: Not much to report this day, except me and my sister washed my car.-What's a carwash if you don't get a little wet?-

-Lacy helping me finish up on waxing my car-


September 30th, 2009: Last but certainly not least brings us to today. I am excited to announce that I start my bookwork to becoming a Petsmart dog bather tomorrow. So I am positively giddy about that. Today Jackson had his Advanced Training, and did so well. He had so much fun playing on all of the agility equipment, especially the jump. I plan on buying or making him one in the near future. His classmate, Sassy (a husky mix) was missing today. But Gus, the Golden Doodle and Dot, the minature teacup Yorkie-poo was there. Lacy also tagged along and helped with Jackson's training. Since Derek can't be there on the Wednesday's because of work, she took it upon herself as "Jackson's Aunt" to help out.-Jackson learning to do the Weave Poles-

-Lacy practicing heeling with Jackson-

-Gus's owner trying to convince Gus to go through the tunnel. Needless to say, Gus never went through that tunnel-

-Dot's super high jump bar-

Well, as long as this entry was, I think it covered everything that has been going on. I'll probably post a similar entry another 5 days from now. Oh well.

Today Jackson's AKC S.T.A.R. Puppy package came in the mail. It had his certificate, medal, and some other things. And as I promised in my entry on April 22, 2009 here are the updated pictures.

On another note: Got another response yesterday. Another yes for the puppy party. This time it's for his brother, Happy. I hear he's a little wild one! 4 out of 9. Not bad.

Ziva

Today I had a conversation with the owner of one of Jackson's sisters. Her name used to be Anzi. Her mom (owner) was very excited about the upcoming puppy reunion and RSVP'd yes for Ziva! 3 of 9 down. 6 more responses to go!

Ziva when she was 7 weeks old.

It's Only Saturday?

Today it already feels like Sunday. It's been a busy Friday and Saturday.

On Friday I bought my new car, and I am super excited about it. I'm still learning to drive it though since it's a stick. But I should be good to drive it by myself to work on Monday.
We went to my niece's soccer game and hung out with Derek's mom side of the family. It was pretty nice to see them all. Even though we see them all the time.
Today we started Jackson's training, and he did pretty well. There was supposed to be 4 dogs in his class, but only Jackson, and the Jack Russell Terrier (Tommy) showed up. So it was a nice individualized lesson. It was really distracting for both dogs, it was adoption day like it is every Saturday, but there was several dogs that were quite vocal.We tried to set up seeing Derek's dad, there was a funeral yesterday and the burial was today up in Eager. He kept saying we would hang out before he left. But plans kinda fell through about an hour ago. :-( He leaves for Ireland at 5am tomorrow morning. I'll miss him.

Earlier we were really in the mood for some S'Mores, so we made some at home :-) They were delicious.
I was planning/hoping to go hiking again tomorrow, but I can't find anyone to go with. Derek isn't the hiking type. All my other buddies are busy. But I guess that's ok. I should give my skin some time to rest, I got pink last time I went, and it left an unusual tan line.

Well Derek and I are going out for a bit so I can test drive my car some more.

I'm Walking on Sunshine!

I'm so excited, I just can't hide it
I'm about to lose control and I think I like it
I'm so excited and I just can't hide it
I know I know I know I know I know I want you

It's true. I just sold my car! Cash. So tomorrow I will pay off my car loan. Such a weight has been lifted from my shoulders. An era has ended. I am so excited to look outside of my window and not see my money pit of a car sitting in front of my house. That waste of money. It's been holding me back.

Tomorrow night I will pick up my new car, and the new chapter will begin. I already did really good driving Derek's manual around. I think I'll learn pretty quick.

05/09/2006 - 09/17/2009

SOLD

Things Are Looking Up

In about a half hour I have a guy coming to look at my junker of a car in hopes of buying it. It's the 2nd time he's come over, so I think there's a pretty good chance he's gonna take it. As long as he offers me a minimum of $950 I'll be happy.

Yesterday Derek and I applied for a loan, well we were approved (not much of a surprise though). I am happy to say that at 5pm tomorrow afternoon I will be the owner of a 2005 Toyota Matrix! Can you tell I'm excited?! I tell ya, I have a good feeling that things are going to turn around in a positive way for me. :-)

Second Water Trail

So, we ended up going to second water trail, which is a trail off of Lost Dutchman. Lost Dutchman is currently off limits because there is a hiker that has been missing since Thursday. Doesn't look good for him. It was an easy-medium hike. Great for a first one. We only hiked for 3 miles though, and that was enough for me and Jackson. We were tired. :-) My friend Katherine wasn't able to make it, so my step-dad Kevin decided to come along so we didn't miss out. Thank goodness we got out as early as we did, the clouds and breeze were awesome!

Almost Forgot

So, I went to the Power & Hampton Petsmart today to talk to Jackson's trainer, Kathy. She wanted to do a quick assessment on his behavior and walking abilities. Well, she has decided to test us out of Intermediate and bump Jackson up to Advanced. So starting next week Jackson will be starting his final training to take his CGC test. And Kathy is also going to work with us individually to focus on the added skills he needs to get his TDI (Therapy Dogs International) License. We are all excited!

Ready, Set, Hike!

So, despite the set-back of not being able to go hiking today, we are instead going tomorrow. And I need up be up in about 5 hours. LOL. I've got my bags packed, and Jackson's bags packed.
This is my new camelback that I got. ^^^ It holds a 2-liter bladder. It also contains Jackson's pop-up water bowl, a blanket, the camera and Zune player, and some other survival trinkets.
This is Jackson's gear. ^^^ His backpack and Muttluck booties. Don't want to risk any cactus in his feet.
This is what I have packed in Jackson's backpack. In the left pocket there is his thermometer, saline wash, poop bags, flexible bandage, and human bandaids. In the right pocket there is styptic powder, eye wash, Canine Aspirin, Canine Benadryl, 2 sets of rubber gloves, alcohol wipes, q-tips, gauze, neosporin, and hydrocortisone cream. In addition to these things there will also be an ice pack in each pocket to keep him cool.
In addition to the huge breakfast I'm making in the morning, I also made a nice lunch.
I themed it "Elementary School". Boar's Head Golden turkey breast and cheddar cheese sandwich on freshly baked italian bread. Goldfish crackers, Sweet apple slices. And of course what kids lunch was complete without a Squeez-It!


All in all I'm hoping its going to be a blast!

It's Funny

I just find it funny how you can be so down and out, yet happy at the same time. I dunno, maybe it's called being Bi-Polar (which I am not) but emotions are such funny things.

It's been a rough time. Derek and I are not doing awesome financially. I haven't been able to recover since I was laid off August 2008. I make half of what I used to, and I'm lucky to get 15 hours a week. Regardless I'm still thankful I have a job, especially one that I enjoy. But enjoying my job doesn't pay my bills. At least not all of them. I've been working on finding another job, one like I used to work. A steady 7-3pm job Monday-Friday. But at this point I'm looking for anything full time.

It's been rough in the family. There's been alot of drama. Well, there always has been. But now my mother's engagement is bringing up freshly healed wounds between my sister and I, and other family members just don't understand. They think we need to get over it and just be happy for her. I am happy for her, honestly I am. But it's still, I dunno, weird for me.

In spite of all of these things I am still so happy. I love my husband more than anything in the world. And I am cherishing every moment I have with him, even moreso with an impending job waiting for him in Israel. Even in this moment, I am enjoying hearing him playing his computer game in the other room. It makes him so happy :-)

We have an incredible puppy and cat. They continue to amaze us and grow closer to eachother each day. Jackson will start training September 19th. I'm pretty excited about it. Though I wish we could have just skipped Intermediate. He's far beyond it I think. I'll just talk to the trainer.

Not much else I feel like typing down at the moment.

I would love to say that this is day 15 with no soda. I had one unintentional slip up on day 13 :-( Completely slipped my mind when I was offered a Dr. Pepper at a relatives house. When I got in the car as we were leaving, I gasped and smacked my forehead, realizing what I had just done.

I was happy to find out today that Vicky (one of my clients) got an 8 week old golden retriever puppy to play a sister to their 11 month old Shiloh. Shiloh is one of Jackson's very best friends.

So, my mom got engaged over the weekend. I'm not sure how I feel about it, yet.

More things are starting to fall apart. Derek and I spent a good 5 hours working on my car on Saturday, only to have it working worse than before. The washer is leaking, the dryer wont dry. Ugh, at least I have a job ::knock on wood:: And a possible one in the works.

I think I may be going on a short hike on Saturday with a co-worker friend of mine and Jackson. We'll see. Should be interesting.

Today I was looking through a photo album of a friend of mine. It was of her travels through England. I couldn't help but smile as I flipped through picture by picture. Admiring that she went to the birthplace of William Shakespeare, several churches, and a market square (and more!) I was so jealous, I would LOVE to travel abroad.

Don't get me wrong, I am so happy I went to Alaska. What an amazing experience. I know eventually I'll go to Ireland and England, no doubt we'll also go to Germany and Australia. There's other places I would love to go, but money doesn't grow on trees, and money is in short supply in our house right now.

I think that's all I wanted to say.