Musings...

My husband escaped the midwest winter for a few days by visiting our daughter in Miami. He came home with a sunburn! While he was away, I spent the weekend in solitude, just doing what I wanted to do when I wanted to do it. Every woman needs a weekend like that!

The picture at the top of the page is the latest of Desi. All three puppies are doing well and growing fast. Zeke is a cuddler and lover, content to curl up on my lap. The other two are hellions. Zach has decided it is funny to dance away when I want to pick him up, so we are working on overcoming that behavior. He has quite a sense of humor!

Speaking of personalities, I recently retook the Myers-Briggs personality inventory. The last time I took it was in 1996. My personality types did not change in all these years. (I am not sure if that is good or bad. At least I am consistent!) Once again, I came out as an ISFJ, which means Introversion, Sensing, Feeling, Judging. The 8 types, which can appear in a variety of combinations are Extroversion (E) – Introversion (I), Sensing (S) – iNtuition (N), Thinking (T) – Feeling (F), Judging (J) – Perceiving (P). Here is the ISFJ description:

"Dependable, reliable and trustworthy, ISFJ's like to belong to solid organizations that are reasonable in their ambitions and loyal to their employees. They feel useful when their roles and responsibilities are clearly established and they can monitor their activities and productivity in tangible ways. They tend to be rather modest, traditional and conventional, to like sensible clothing, to be thrifty, careful and wise with both money and possessions. (I can see those who know me well nodding their heads! LOL) Once they accept a project, they will see it to the end. They manage their time well and are realistic about how much time and resources will be needed. They tend to like to stay in one neighborhood, often choosing to live close to where they were themselves raised. They are often involved with volunteer organizations and have a developed sense of citizenship and accountability. When they purchase something, it is after careful consideration; rarely will they buy something without having a known need or use for it. They may keep possessions for a lifetime and treasure those that were given to them. They tend to have a good memory for specific facts that are necessary in their day-to-day life at work and at home. They accumulate facts and details to orient themselves, relying on repeated experiences that have been proven trustworthy. A fact once experienced may be the product of circumstance and happenstance; it is not in and of itself reliable. When an introverted sensing type hears an idea, they rummage through reams of archived facts to find an experience that provides information for the relevance and realism of an idea. When an introverted sensing type utters, "It's never been done!" they are saying that no information about the relevance or usefulness of the idea is available to them. They tend to shy away from surprises and what is perceived as unnecessary change." (Again, I see you smiling!)

It's a decent description of me, more so than a lot of the horoscope profiles! (Although I am a Leo, so you know what that means!)

If you are interested in the Myers-Briggs, I think you can go online and take abbreviated versions of the inventory.

Back to dogs: For years and years I've been using the Golden Almond mat and tangle removing spray from JB Wholesale. That stuff works like magic! Alas…the company has discontinued the product. I have one full gallon left and less than half of the current open gallon. Then the search will be on for a replacement. If any of you have found a product you like, please let me know. I prefer getting recommendations rather than going through trial and error.

This week we are gearing up for a dog show. Mira and Belle are going to Belleville, IL to a show. Mira has not been in the ring since December. I hope she remembers what to do! With all the snow we haven't been able to do much practicing. Her coat had grown so long that when I groomed her Saturday I decided it needed trimming. Trust me, it is neither fun nor easy to trim a black Lhasa. Usually when I do it, Lynn brings his bright shop light in from the garage and focuses it on Mira so I can really see what I am doing. Of course, he was not here and I had no idea where to find the shop light, so I did the best I could.

For me, one of the worst things about showing a black dog is worrying about what to wear. As one of my friends warned me the day I got Mira, "Now you will have to change your entire show wardrobe." It was true -- I always wear black, or at least in my pre-Mira days. I have at least 6 black skirts in various styles and patterns!! I wear them with a variety of jackets, but still…it's the skirt that is closest to the dog! Last night I was digging through the closet trying to find something to wear this weekend. Having lost 50 lbs. this past year, I don't have a lot of clothes that fit me well so there is not as much to choose from anymore. I need to go shopping! I haven't shown Mira since early October so haven’t had to worry about show clothes that complement her color. (My friend Jane showed her in December when I could not go in the ring because I was recovering from foot surgery.) I came up with something for each day, and reluctantly left the black skirts in the closet. Just one more reason to want to get that last major on Mira! She of course, is just now going out of season. She is still swollen and occasionally twirls around to "get" her rear. I have visions of her doing a repeat of her performance at the Twin Cities Lhasa Apso Club specialty last August. Never a dull moment when Mira is around!

Wish us luck!

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

Joyce