Well, as Edward de Bono, noted for his expertise on creative thinking, pointed out, “If you never change your mind, why have one?” Indeed! So, part of today's bulletin is my announcement that I have changed my mind! Remember when, a few months back, I claimed that I was not, was not, was not going to keep a male puppy from Dancer and Walker's litter? Well…that darn little Rafe, who reminds me so much of Walker, managed to worm his way so totally into my affection, that try as I might to ignore it, I made the decision that he'd be staying! Since my goal was to keep only one puppy from the litter, that means I have to let Olivia go. I think she may have a home already, but I'll know more by the middle of next week. Talk about hard decisions!
I now have to get Rafe registered with AKC so he can be entered in a May show. I have lists and lists of potential AKC registered names that include the words "Wind" or "Walk." After a week of brainstorming, I think I've finally decided that Rafe will be Joyslyn's Inherit the Wind. I had many hours to think about a name for him since I drove to Nebraska on March 23rd to visit Mom. We had a wonderful visit because it happened that all three of my nieces were home and a cousin and her husband from Omaha decided to visit that weekend also. Mom and my sister are the greatest, and I wish we could see each other more often! It took 8 hours to get to Mom's and longer to get home since I took a detour to David City, where Lynn and I lived for 16 years and where all of our kids were born. I stopped at KV Pet Supply to stock up on some much-needed dog supplies and to avoid paying mega shipping charges on three gallons of shampoo (e.g., a little over $12 shipping charges on a $16 gallon of the rinseless shampoo). We still have good friends who live in David City, but I knew everyone would be at work. That was confirmed by a phone call, so once the supplies were purchased and loaded in the car, the journey back to Illinois began. In spite of the 16 hours of thought, the final decision about what Rafe's official name was not made until this morning.
It is a very good thing that I had not tried to use my credit card since I returned from the Nebraska trip! Friday's call from the fraud department of the card company informed me that the card had been suspended due to suspected fraudulent activity. Oh boy. Fortunately, there was only one big charge and a bunch of $1.00 charges (????). So, I shredded the card and the account is now closed. What a bummer…but I am so glad they caught the problem before the (insert the swear word of your choice) making the charges ran up any more. The customer representative I spoke to admonished me about traveling without calling to let the company know I was going on a trip. Good heavens…who does that? His English was not the best, so I am not sure I understood him correctly. Am I behind the times??? (Well, yes I am – on a number of things – but I had not heard that one before.) So, I should call whenever I go out of town to a show??? Something else to add to my already long pre-dog show to-do list!
Why is it that when I'm away from the office, even for two days, the amount of work that awaits makes me regret having been gone? It's one of life's mysteries!
April promises to be a busy month. Easter is less than a week away; Belle, Gabe, and perhaps Olivia and Dancer, will be leaving for new homes by the end of the month; Lynn and I are celebrating our 40th anniversary (!) on the 15th; granddaughter Klara's 6th birthday is on the 27th; Mira's puppies are due on the 29th; and I have a couple of day-long, back-to-back out of town meetings. Sadly, we have no dog shows scheduled for April, and I may be going through dog show withdrawal before May rolls around. In May we'll be attending the Badger and Janesville-Beloit shows in WI as well as the Rock Island and Bloomington shows in Illinois. If you live near any of those places and want to experience a dog show, come to see us! Rafe will make his debut at the Bloomington shows.
A friend told me about a product she discovered that worked to totally eliminate the urine odor from one of her cat's multiple "accidents" on her living room carpet. The product is Zero Odor Remover zeroodorpet.com. My friend gave it a definite two thumbs up because nothing she'd tried before had ever worked. Another similar product that claims to work better is SCOE 10x, which none of us at the office who have pets have tried, but which sounds like it might work well too. scoe10x.com
Life is good when you have a Lhasa to love you!
Joyce
Rafe is a very cute boy, I'm sure he will provide a lot of happiness for you! I have heard about calling the credit card companies before leaving town, but I haven't ever done it before. I did have someone use my credit card last year, and luckily the fraud people are very quick to figure out when it is being used in fraud. I think that if you haven't called them, and you use it on a trip, they will call and try to confirm that it is you who is using the card. If you don't answer or they can't talk to you I think they may suspend it. So if you are relying on it during a trip, it may be best to call and work it out before you leave. Good luck with your little one!
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