What's Been Happening

Friday night began a flurry of activity at our house that probably will not end until the 10th. First, we have been remodeling our kitchen. Actually, to be more accurate LYNN has been remodeling our kitchen. He has done all the work himself while I urge him on and complain about the mess. As anyone who has ever been involved in such a project knows, things never go the way you expect them to and they always cost way more than you planned to spend. Our kitchen is no different.

One of the last things to be done was the tiled backsplash. The tile we ordered was backordered for 5 weeks. It arrived last week so Lynn and our son Aaron began the tiling job on Saturday morning. Lynn finished it Sunday and the grouting will be done tonight. Thank goodness.

The nice thing is that I haven't had to cook much these past 5 days. That is a good thing, since cooking is low on my list of enjoyable activities!

The dogs had a show on Sunday in Morris. Breaker took Best of Winners. Mira took 4th out of 4, and the reason for that remains a mystery since she showed like a dream and looked so good out there. Friends at ringside were flabbergasted, but that's what friends are for, right? Belle refused to walk, and the judge was quite irked with me and ready to excuse us. I finally got her to walk on the "down" but she then refused to budge to come back. Perhaps Mira's placement was my punishment??? As I said, the judge was ticked. I am not sure if she was disgusted with me because Belle wouldn't walk or upset that I got her to walk and then she could not excuse her! Whatever the reason, it is what it is. There's always another show.

That experience has led me to question whether I should even try to show Belle. She is so cute but if she won't walk I am simply wasting my money. She is 9 months old now. The other problem is that, unless she has an amazing growth spurt, I think she is going to be too small. You should see how adorable she is—but she is not even 9 inches tall and she weighs not quite 8 pounds. I think I have a miniature Lhasa at my house! She certainly inherited her grandfather Walker's coat. So, time will tell. After the national specialty I do not plan on entering any more shows this year so we'll let her grow up a bit and see how she develops.

Last night I started packing for the specialty! We leave the morning of the 11th! I cannot believe the "stuff" that I have to take—not only for myself but also for the dog (Breaker) and for the club. I am beginning to wonder if it is all going to fit in Marsha's van. I know she's bringing almost as much "stuff" as I am. The neighbors will probably be amazed Friday night and Saturday morning when they see us loading the van.

Although I hate the preparation for the trip to Carlisle, PA, where the specialty will be held, once we are on the way, I know I'm going to enjoy seeing everyone again and participating in the activities planned for this special week. The American Lhasa Apso Club (ALAC) is celebrating its 50th anniversary so celebratory events have been added to the usual activities of the week. Lhasa exhibitors come from all over the country to attend the event. We generally have visitors from outside the country also. Many Canadians belong to ALAC and are quite supportive of our specialty. It's not uncommon to have folks show up from the UK, Denmark, Germany, or Australia.

If I have time this Friday when I get back from the vet, I'll let you all know what we find out about Dancer. She certainly does not look pregnant to me! I'm prepared to be disappointed (but secretly holding on to the hope that she is carrying at least a couple puppies). It's been nearly a year since we've had puppies, and I miss them so much!

Life is good when you have a Lhasa to love you!

Joyce