At long last, Finney has made us MAD.   At our trial Sunday, he got the standard leg we've been hunting for for almost a year, and he is now a Master Agility Dog.  He is the first male Toller to earn the title in New England, or possibly in the Northeast, if you don't define Pennsylvania as Northeast.

It was a lovely, splendid run, and I gave an ear shattering yell when they confirmed we'd made time.  We drove to Wendy's and he had a Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger.  I'd promised him he could "haz cheezebuger" if he got it.  You've never seen a dog's eyes bug like Finn's as he fit an entire burger with cheese into his mouth and tried to swallow it whole.

Now he never has to jump 22" again, which makes him happy.  And he got his MAD, which makes me happy.

He is now officially:

Westerlea's Call Lightning, Sch, MAD, GM, RM, JM



That's a hell of a good dog!

Finney and I qualified in our Grand Prix run this weekend, so we have made the grade to complete at the USDAA Agility Nationals this year.  I'm so excited!  It's been a goal of ours this year.  I don't really care if we don't even get out of the first round at Nationals.  I just want to go, and be there with him. 

We didn't Q at the second day's Grand Prix class, which would have gotten us a pass into the  Semi-Finals, but that was ENTIRELY my fault.  I turned in front of him in the wrong position.  When I pivoted out of the turn to direct him to the tire, the next obstacle, it wasn't anywhere near.  He thought I was crazy, and went around it and back through the tire from the wrong direction.  My bad.  Still doesn't matter, we'll try to get into semi-finals and finals the old fashioned way, by earning it!

He also had a lovely Jumpers run, where I did everything I wanted to in how to handle him and it was a joyous dance.

Glad we only had 3 runs, as it was Freakin' Hot all weekend, and I was happy to only have to be at the grounds for a few hours. 

Finn was also well behaved and polite all day at Kev's aunt & uncle's house for the family reunion.  There weren't enough kids there to freak him out, and he was an angel all day.  People were very surprised when we said that he is our "bad" dog.

And Argo got to go to Grandma's house and spend the weekend at the lake with my nieces and nephew to throw sticks for her.  So it was a good weekend for everyone.

The photographer was really clever to get this angle.  It really captures drive in all the dogs she photographed.  She should have focused on the dog, not the jump, but whatever.

		I will marry Sean McGann.
		After a wild honeymoon, We will settle down in Aruba in our fabulous House.
		We will have 29 kid(s) together.
		Our family will zoom around in a Purple winnebago.
		I will spend my days as a Actress, and live happily ever after.

Where can I get a chance to vote yes for this?  He's a strange little troll of a man, but I like how he thinks.

The statue of John Singleton Copley in Copley square was wearing a V for Vendetta mask this morning. Very amusing.

It's certainly the prank of the Anonymous group as part of their never ending war against scientology.  I find them amusing, but I resent them having co-opted a wonderful symbol of the struggle of anarchy against opression to fight a goofy fringe religion.  Did you people even read the comic?

Anyway, Mr. Copley  and his face lift gave me a grin on the way into work, and that's never bad.

By many of the old fashioned or traditional definitions, I'm a rotten wife.

28 As a 1930s wife, I am Poor Take the test!

However, I'm a damned good husband. See what a Wellesley education will do for you?

90 As a 1930s husband, I am Very Superior Take the test!

Fredric J. Baur, the unsung genius who designed the Pringles can has died.  The man responsible for bringing fresh, tasty potato "crack" to us all had a portion of his remains buried in the distinctive cylinder that he designed.  How cool is that?  Just don't get the munchies while visiting the graveside.

A comic genius.  RIP Count DeMoney and Hedly Lamarr.  You made bad, bad guys very, very funny.

That's the full name of the game.  You can go buy a copy here or just read more, get pdfs, etc.  I highly recommend this one.  Written right, it would be a great game for kids 8 and up.

viking_cat  and I spent the weekend at my family's lake house it the Berkshires, which is our own personal Rivendell.  You know the quote I'm taking about, "A perfect house, whether you like food or sleep or story-telling or singing, or just sitting and thinking best, or a pleasant mixture of them all."

The dogs adore it there, especially Argo, who swims until she can't move, and even as she's lying in a coma, she's still squeaking for her stick to be thrown one more time.

We got them home Sunday night, and they didn't want to eat.  Retrievers too tired to eat.  Set out a nosebag for the 4 horses, the apocalypse is coming.

I spent Saturday reading (which is the perfect thing to do at the lake) a new RPG that Vcat got for the ENNies.  It's called Monsters, and it's a game about playing small children and their monster best friends.  I'm definitely running this thing at PegCon.  It's charming and looks like a lot of fun.

Sounds like everyone had a good time.  Double Grats to Ladybird.  Or should that be Doctor Ladybird?

Finn and I had a fabulous weekend of agility.  He ran fast, we had fun.  It was supposed to rain all weekend, but instead it was sunny and nice. hokulea and Mele ran very well, and Foldedfish came to watch.  I hung with my friends duffydogand his lovely wife, who both had great runs.

We didn't get that standard leg we wanted to, but both of his runs were fast.  His Sunday run, usually his slower one because he's tired, was run in 50.59 seconds.  That's not fast on the grand agility scale, but Finn has NEVER run a Standard course so fast in his life.  He was flying.  Of course, he was flying so fast he jumped over the yellow contact zone on the dog walk.  But I was proud of my little man.  He's been running like a champ.  We got a gamble (distance challenge) that only 7 dogs out of 70 got, and gave me a beautiful Jumpers run late in the day Sunday.  That was our only Q of the weekend, but I'll take it.

Came home Sunday and fell into bed at about 7 and slept about 12 hours.  Usually I get a break during a trial and Finn & I curl up in the car and nap.  Because there were so many interesting people there, I didn't do that, and hence was exhausted when I got home.  Food, shower, bed - the post agility ritual.

Anyone else think the concept of "I Prepared Explosive Runes this Morning" on a thong seems counter productive?  Or at least likely to discourage otherwise desired behaviors?

Not that I want to stop Rich Burlew from making money, but it just seems odd...

Now, Elan doing the "I'm Invisible" thing would be hilarious.

you have no heart.  Argo and me, running agility.  This is the trial I blogged about a few weeks ago, where she got to jump the little jumps and was so very pleased with herself. 

Almost eleven years old, deaf as a post and arthritic, but still lovin' the game.

I'll put this behind a cut, so those of you who don't care about agility can just go about your business.  Because SpyScribe asked for a definition of some of the jargon, and because I can refuse her nothing:

No, seriously, I am.  Also, I am Superman and I can do anything.

Saw the movie last night, and I'm still droolin'.  Best superhero movie in a long time, mostly due to the stupendous casting of Robert Downey Jr.

On the way out Viking-Cat and I were casting the rest of the Avengers for the movies to come.  Sam Jackson as Nick Fury was kind of a no brainer, especially since the Marvel folks have been drawing Fury as Jackson for a decade now.  Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Cap. America's a toughie.  We really don't build our leading men that way anymore.  We want a Johnny Weismuller build, and Hollywood's running to the leaner type.  Physically, we want Tom Brady (the Pat's QB), but I have no idea if the guy can act.  He looks the part, certainly.

We like David Stratham as Hawkeye, and had someone good picked out for Thor, but now I've forgotten who.  I'd like to see Brad Pitt as Hank Pym, although V-Kitty thinks he could carry Cap.  I say he's not bulky enough.  

Anyone else want to join the fantasy casting?

Here's Finney and me doing our thing Saturday.   Make sure you have sound on so you can hear me encouraging him on in the weave poles like some kind of chipmunk cheerleader.  He likes it, though, so what does my pride matter?  If I couldn't cope with embarrassment, I wouldn't run agility.

Finn & I had a lovely weekend of agility.  Still haven't pinned down that elusive Masters Standard leg, but I'm feeling better about it every try.  He knocked a bar late in his Saturday run, and I heard the Judge say "awwww" behind me as I ran by.  That's always nice.  The good news is that Finn made time both days, with seconds to spare, and gave me blazing fast poles.  I really feels like it's a matter of time now.    I kind of wanted to get the MAD at this trial because the judge runs Tollers too, and that would have made it extra nice.

We picked up a few other legs in Performance, like a Q in beloved Snooker, and a Jumpers Q as well.  We were connected and together.  In fact the only time we weren't connected was Sunday when I took my eyes off him in Masters Standard, and he went out and took the wrong end of the tunnel.  I'd said "tunnel" and he decided the end 15' away was WAY cooler than the one near me.  You know, the one my shoulders, feet hands and movement were pointing to.  But I'd taken my eyes off him, and when left to his own devices, Finn will ALWAYS go for distance. 

It was rainy, muddy and damp, but he likes to run in the mud, and I just have to suck it up.  And better that than 95 degrees and the dogs and people passing out everywhere.

The post office is attempting to charge a man for re-using a postal priority mail box.  The guy found it on a garbage area, and turned it inside out, but the post office wouldn't accept his package, because they say these boxes are only for those who pay for them.

Way to be green, postal service.  Perhaps this kind of stupidity is the reason why postal rates go up every 3 minutes and why you guys hemorrhage money.

Thanks everyone for the kind birthday wishes.  I took the day off from work and went to a spa.  I spent a delicious afternoon getting massaged, slathered in unguents and pampered.  It was good.

Too bad about then turning my (obviously too relaxed) ankle in the woods while walking the dogs afterwards. It's not a bad sprain, but it's stiff and tender this morning.