Things are Rather Dull Around Here!

What is drama but life with the dull bits cut out. Alfred Hitchcock

What's going on at Joyslyn's Lhasa Apsos? Sorry to say, not all that much.

However, in the interest of keeping this blog active, I'll fill you in on the hum-drum aspects of life around here since the last post. Well, Lynn and I had our 38th anniversary on the 15th. Note that I said "had" not "celebrated!" The big day seemed to pass unnoticed by two of our children. The other one sent a card a week early, but hey…at least that one remembered. My sister sent a card. My mom forgot. Heck…even my husband forgot. In the morning, we discussed going out to dinner but neither of us cared where we went, so we decided to decide later. When we got home from work I asked, "What do you want to do for dinner?" He said, "Oh you don't have to fix anything, I went out to Aurelio's (our favorite pizza buffet) for lunch, so I am not hungry!" Hmmm…that got the evening off to a great start.

We haven't been to any dog shows, but I did send entries for Belle to go to the Badger and Janesville shows on May 8-9 in Wisconsin. Zach and Desi are growing. Teeth are coming in and I'm not really thrilled with either of their bites but gums are still swollen and both have a mix of baby teeth, adult teeth breaking through, and big gaps where there are no teeth. Time will tell, but right now I'd say she is going to be undershot (not horrendously, thank God!) and he may be scissors. (YUCK!) I am hoping that his lower jaw grows just a tiny bit. The two have been going to training class every Tuesday night. Desi gets car sick and either throws up when the car stops or drools all the way there and I have to get her cleaned up so the trainer can at least touch her on the table without getting grossed out. Zach always gets to go first so Desi has time to dry off. Zach likes class and moves right out. Desi not so much. At home she prances down the street. He puts his tail down and takes tiny steps. (Picture me beating my head against a wall!)

One thing I am very thankful for is that both puppies are totally amenable to lying on their sides to be groomed! A couple times on the table and they were into it! Compare that behavior to Breaker's. He still thinks I must be trying to kill him if he has to lie on his side to be groomed. He is a brat, but you can't help but love him. He is full of such joy and good will. What he needs is something to do with all his energy. Unfortunately, I am NOT a person interested in training for and competing in performance events; otherwise, I'd have him in agility training for sure.

Other than working and coming home to groom dogs and train puppies what have I been doing with all this down time? I've been spending more time with our granddaughter. Thankfully, she thinks that visiting grandma and grandpa is special and fun. I decided to re-read the Harry Potter books. I've also been reading some political blogs. However, I may have to stop. I am getting totally irritated with politicians who are putting party before country, with those in the Tea Party who think fascism and socialism are synonyms and who misspell words on their stupid posters, and with a certain screechy-voiced ex-governor whose blatherings incite people who can't think for themselves. Enough about that.

Today, I discovered a website that made me laugh. First, remember all those motivational posters with the lovely nature or animal photos and the nice quotations that hung on the walls of your high school or perhaps still hang in your workplace? Well, if you have a warped sense of humor (as I evidently do) you might enjoy a visit to Despair.com to view the "tell it like it is" posters there. For example, one poster has a lovely picture of a salmon swimming upstream, jumping a waterfall and aiming right for the jaws of a huge bear. The poster is titled "AMBITION." Under the photo are the words "A journey of a thousand miles sometimes ends very, very badly."

Evidently, the company sells t-shirts and other products in addition to the posters. If you have a pessimist in your life – or someone with a warped sense of humor – this site may be of help for Christmas and birthday gifts.

On a lighter note, family is headed to town this week. My mom is visiting from Nebraska and arrives tomorrow. Our daughter is coming from Florida on Thursday. Our son is coming home from college to spend the weekend. The big event is our granddaughter's 4th birthday. It will be great to see everyone and have some much needed family time. There will be lots of laughter. We always have fun when we are together.

Life is good when you have a Lhasa – and family – to love you!

Joyce

Quick Update and Some Photos

Dogs have given us their absolute all. We are the center of their universe. We are the focus of their love and faith and trust. They serve us in return for scraps. It is without a doubt the best deal man has ever made. ~Roger Caras


I hope everyone had a good Easter weekend. I certainly did. Saturday was spent at a dog show in DeWitt, IA, just a two-hour drive from home, so it is one of the closer shows I go to. Marsha was there from ND and it was great to see her and her three puppies who made their ring debut that day. Belle took Winners Bitch and got her first point, so that was a highlight. However, she refused to walk on the last go-round. She had had enough I guess!

I think it is time for Belle to go back to class.

The puppies Zach and Desi seem to be enjoying class. At least they are walking (are you listening, Belle?) and having a good time. Desi discovered a piece of bait another attendee dropped. She gobbled it right down and then spent the rest of class with her nose on the floor seeking more goodies, in spite of the liver I was using for bait. I don't know what goodie she discovered but it was better than liver to her taste buds!

Zach and Desi are teething. Gums are swollen and toothless, for the most part. Their teething reminds me of a picture I once received from a family who'd purchased a puppy from us. In the photo was a gorgeous dining room table. Its legs had been placed in colorful plastic sand buckets of the type children use at the beach. Funny! No caption was necessary.

Photos of Bell and Mira are at the top of the page. Mira is the black dog. Lynn sent Mira's photo files to Wal-Mart to be printed and when I went to pick them up, I had to swear that we took them ourselves and they were not copyrighted. I was irked but Lynn took it as a compliment.

Not much else is new around here. We are still (im)patiently waiting for Dancer to come in season again. My guess is that she is going to come in only once a year so it'll be July or August. I hope I am wrong!

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

Joyce