Life is Better When...

New Year's Greetings as the first full week of January 2014 is about to come to an end.

I confess to turning into a "slug" during our Christmas break. I work at a university, so we had a nice long break. My last day at the office was December 20th and I did not have to go back until January 2nd. Once the Christmas hassle was over, I retreated to my sofa with a blanket and a pile of books and basically read my way through the following days, emerging from one completed book into the next one on the stack. It was great!

2014 is off to a freezing start. I have learned first-hand about a polar vortex, and I have not enjoyed the experience. Brrr... I found out that "polar vortex" has been one of most highly searched terms on the internet in recent days. At any rate, our weather here is warming up a bit so perhaps we'll soon be back to our "normal" midwest freezing temperatures instead of experiencing wind chills of 30 below.

Due to the frigid temperatures, our university closed again for the first two days of this week, and -- you guessed it -- I was back on sofa with blankets (plural this time) and a new stack of books.

The show photos of Duncan's two major wins in early December finally arrived. They turned out well, except the one where the hair on his front foot is goofy (see the second picture). Every time I look at that picture, I want to get a brush and smooth down that hair. The photographer should have noticed it and had me brush it in place. He was so picky about move this leg, move that leg, etc. during the shoot that it irks me he missed the chance to have me groom the front leg. Oh well..

Duncan's first major, giving him a total of 7 points

Duncan's second major, giving him a total of 10 points

Duncan, Lila, and I are sitting home with no plans to go to shows until March or April. I'll be stir crazy by then, going through "dog show withdrawal." Our training classes are supposed to start in February, weather permitting, so that will help both dogs remember what's expected of them in the show ring. We certainly have not been able to do any practicing outside in this snow and cold.

We received Christmas greetings and photos on December 25. Mary sent a photo of Belle, whose 5th birthday was Christmas day. The photo shows Belle with her ribbons the day she earned her Rally Novice title.

I also received a Christmas picture of Ella decked out in a fancy red and green bow as she considered which gifts under that tree might be hers.

A surprise email came from Honey's owners who live in Springfield, IL. I haven't heard from them for ages. Honey is 10 years old now. The email included a photo of her.

I checked the Canine Chronicle for the 2013 end-of-year breed standings and, to my pleasant surprise, saw that Rafe, GCh. Ch. Joyslyn's Inherit The Wind, was still listed in the Top 20. He finished the year at number 15. He is resting on his laurels for a while as I debate whether or not to keep him in coat and show him again when he is more mature.

Speaking of Rafe, if all goes as planned, puppies sired by him out of Maggie, Ch. Joyslyn's Moonlight Magic, are due around February 27th.

And, speaking of puppies, Windy and Breaker's puppies are due January 20th, but I really think she is going to have them early. She is quite large and today, for the first day since she came to me as a 12 week old puppy, she did not dive into her food dish and inhale her food in seconds. Instead, she ate a few kibbles and turned away. She is so full of puppies that I think there is little room for a full meal anymore.

People have often remarked on how much they like my "sign-off" slogan, so I decided to have a bumper sticker made. You saw a picture of the bumper sticker at the beginning of this post. I posted it on Facebook as my cover photo and had some inquiries from a couple people who asked if they could buy one. I didn't have many printed, but if you are interested, the cost is $6 (that includes the postage and envelope). You can email me at lhasas@joyslynslhasaapsos.com to make arrangements.


Life is better when you have a Lhasa to love you! (as if you needed reminding!)

Joyce