Where Did My Vacation Go?

Everything is a toy, including a plastic bag!

Odd that I rarely get around to blogging on weekends, when I SHOULD have more time for it.   Have my routine for the week which includes a blog post, but weekends are a bit more free form, I guess!

Lovely long weekend that ends all too soon.  It would be interesting to have a whole week off and just stay home and play catch up, something that I have never done.  My vacation always involves going somewhere for at least part of the time, so four days at home is the most I have ever had - and obviously it is not nearly long enough.

New patio door goes in next week and I'm praying that the latch does not fall off before then.  This is much needed project, and because the door will be installed before the end of the year I will get the tax credit.  When we got the estimate, I opted to finish the wood trim myself and save $200.00, which turns out to have been a really stupid decision on my part!  I assumed the pieces would already be cut to size and easy to wrestle down the basement stairs.  NOT!  Six 12-foot pieces of lumber, three of them heavy oak boards.  Like most hundred year old houses this one has a very small back stairway with a tight curve at the top and it is exceedingly difficult (and sometimes impossible) to get large or long items around the corner and down the stairs. 

I love staining wood and am partial to the Watco oil stains, but I really hate the prep work.  Went through three sanding blocks doing that hard oak, but am very satisfied with the results.  Three 12-foot pine strips left to stain, but it will require a lighter shade as softer pine takes the stain so much differently than  harder oak.

One of my projects for the weekend HAD been to scrub, restain and eventually wax the kitchen cabinets, but all the sanding made my tendinitis flare up, so that will have to wait for another time.  If roads are bad this coming weekend and I stay home from Kankakee (a bugger of a drive in the winter) it will be a good time to get started on that.  I'd like to see Ginger, and the judges are OK for Argus, but Pauli is entered too and they are probably better for her.  So if I stay home, it's no big deal.

Mariah continues to do well and is such a doll.  Housetraining has been a snap as it so often is with Dal pups.  After a couple of rough days, she's settled into being a Perfect Pup, and is great in her crate,  The adults all like her so she generally has someone to play with, usually either Argus or Josie, but sometimes Watson too.  Coral still ignores her and pretends there are no puppies present.  She's done her share, she says.

Argus in entered at two shows in the Chicago area right before Christmas.  I don't like doing those shows by myself, so invited Jess to ride along.  She would rather show than watch, so she suggested borrowing Nena from Stephanie and taking her along. Nena has been sitting home growing up this fall and we wanted to see how she looked, so Stephanie and Nena met us at the training center yesterday, and we worked Nena, Argus & Mariah for awhile.  Nena is definitely ready to go now, and Jess is excited to try her.  We worked with Argus to see if he was moving soundly, which he is.  Because he is getting more treadmill time this year (and I am not going to risk all the roadwork on ice this year, having learned my lesson) I needed to be sure that he was moving correctly.  Roadwork badly done can cause more problems than it helps. 

Mariah rode out to class in Argus's crate, just to get her used to riding in a crate in my car.  (She sat on the seat when she went in for a vet visit on Friday.)  It was her first time learning to walk on leash and she did pretty well. Sure is a pretty mover.  We also took some stacked shots since she has slimmed down and looks much better than when chubby.