Well, I didn't go to the agility trial this weekend. Thankfully, Moxie has no clue what she missed out on. I didn't tell her about it beforehand to save on the incessant pestering. Thank goodness she didn't know, or you know I would have never heard the end of it.
In other news, I'm worried about Kobie. He's becoming increasingly neurotic. (I know, I know, how can I tell, right?) He's so clingy and very wary of the other cats. He can't stand the other cats to molest him in any way. When I pet him, he can't tolerate me petting him beyond his shoulders. When he's laying asleep he's violently thrashing his tail. He's unhappy. I'm beginning to think its all pain related.
I got him after he'd been hit by a car. The vet that fixed him up did a piss poor job of it. He did a shitty job on the hip and didn't even try to fix his pelvic fracture. He's been gimpy his whole life, but increasingly so lately. He doesn't run, leap or play anymore. He can't tolerate another cat even sleeping with him. I think the other cats perceive his weakness and pick on him even more.
The limits of traditional medicine are many. There is just no effective way to manage chronic pain in cats. Pharmacology has failed us. So I'm looking into alternative treatment methods. Perhaps a chiropractor could make some adjustments. Or regular acupuncture could give him some relief. The trouble is finding a practitioner that I can trust. I know some of you readers take your pets to chiropractors, if you have a recommendation let me know.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Monday, August 25, 2008
Agility Weekend coming up
Moxie and I are entered in the TWANG ASCOT ASCA Agility trial in Fort Worth this weekend. This will be our first agility show in something like six years. We also haven't trained on any contact obstacles in over a year. We haven't trained any agility period in more than a month due to the heat. This should be interesting.
I knew better than to Sign up for both days, but I'm a glutton for punishment, what can I say? We are only doing two runs each day, so Moxie will be fully rested. But I have also volunteered to be a ring slave, I mean, steward, both days. I want to join the club that is hosting the show, and I have to work two shows to do that. I wonder if Saturday and Sunday are considered separate shows, or if I'll have to put in another full weekend before I can be considered for membership?
Still haven't heard anything about my job, but I'm hopefull that I will hear something this week. Wish me luck!
A much younger Moxie takes a hurdle at the PAWS NADAC trial in Rhome Texas, this was the last trial we went to. 3/1/03
I knew better than to Sign up for both days, but I'm a glutton for punishment, what can I say? We are only doing two runs each day, so Moxie will be fully rested. But I have also volunteered to be a ring slave, I mean, steward, both days. I want to join the club that is hosting the show, and I have to work two shows to do that. I wonder if Saturday and Sunday are considered separate shows, or if I'll have to put in another full weekend before I can be considered for membership?
Still haven't heard anything about my job, but I'm hopefull that I will hear something this week. Wish me luck!
A much younger Moxie takes a hurdle at the PAWS NADAC trial in Rhome Texas, this was the last trial we went to. 3/1/03
Reminiscing
I was cleaning my room today and came across an old notebook with a bunch of random stuff in it. Most of it is scribbles and to do lists pertaining to my work in Mexico and my job at UNT. But a few pages in the middle there is a scribbled out journal entry. I read it, I remembered it, and I wanted to preserve it somewhere safe, for posterity.
Written on 3/21/2005 upon returning from a spring break trip to Mexico.
I feel the chill of the departing day sweep over me and shiver. At this moment, I wish I could sink with the setting sun into blackness. Just when I begin to feel enlightened, like I finally understand everything, I realize I don't understand anything. I don't know if the key to understanding my life lies in understanding my past or understanding my future. Maybe I should just try to understand the moment. This moment. This sunset. This first spring breeze. This song. This breath. This thought. What is right now all about?
Each time I return from Mexico a bigger mess than the last time, but a better person just the same. Settling back into the U.S. American way of life after any amount of time away from it is a process much like unpacking. Taking those crumpled, damp or dusty thoughts; haphazardly packed, pushed, crammed and zipped up in my head, pulling them out, and deciding what is to be done with them. How to make those vestiges of Mazamitla fit for exhibition in U.S. American culture, in this life, this place, this moment. Cleaned, folded, tucked neatly, softer and milder than Mazamitla. How to make myself palatable to my culture? What to do with those things that don't seem to fit here, no matter how cleaned or pressed. Toss them back? Zip them up, pack them away until my next trip? Hide those things so no one can see? Hide the things that don't fit, and walk around with huge voids in my heart and mind where the best of Mazamitla would be? The bright colors, the bold flavors, the laughter, the depth, the raw power, the beauty, the emotion. I cannot be without those things. I have become those things. I am Mexico. I am wild, raw, vibrant, and intense. Pressed to the heavens from between the rocks and the earth. I am not something many people here in my culture can tolerate. I am too extreme for America, yet too mild for Mexico.
I walk through my day, interacting with different people, knowing that not one of them understands my heart. Not a single person I meet in the hall, talk to on the phone, drive with on the freeway; not Brandon, Not Syl. They know my mind, my body, but no one yet knows my heart. I sit by the waters edge in the grey early night holding those damp, dusty, bold, vibrant pieces of me, washed in the earth, dried in the moonlight, while the lights from the city twinkle in the distance. I sit by the waters edge, whole. Every piece and part unpacked, exposed and unashamed, my heart on display for anyone to discover. But there is no one. I am alone tonight.
Oh Mexico. Oh how ALIVE I felt in those days. I sometimes wonder if I will ever feel vibrant, bold or excited about life ever again. I truly hope so. I hope someday to find my passion again.
On another note, Brandon? I haven't thought about him in AGES? I wonder what he's up to these days?
Now back to your regularly scheduled dog blog.
Written on 3/21/2005 upon returning from a spring break trip to Mexico.
I feel the chill of the departing day sweep over me and shiver. At this moment, I wish I could sink with the setting sun into blackness. Just when I begin to feel enlightened, like I finally understand everything, I realize I don't understand anything. I don't know if the key to understanding my life lies in understanding my past or understanding my future. Maybe I should just try to understand the moment. This moment. This sunset. This first spring breeze. This song. This breath. This thought. What is right now all about?
Each time I return from Mexico a bigger mess than the last time, but a better person just the same. Settling back into the U.S. American way of life after any amount of time away from it is a process much like unpacking. Taking those crumpled, damp or dusty thoughts; haphazardly packed, pushed, crammed and zipped up in my head, pulling them out, and deciding what is to be done with them. How to make those vestiges of Mazamitla fit for exhibition in U.S. American culture, in this life, this place, this moment. Cleaned, folded, tucked neatly, softer and milder than Mazamitla. How to make myself palatable to my culture? What to do with those things that don't seem to fit here, no matter how cleaned or pressed. Toss them back? Zip them up, pack them away until my next trip? Hide those things so no one can see? Hide the things that don't fit, and walk around with huge voids in my heart and mind where the best of Mazamitla would be? The bright colors, the bold flavors, the laughter, the depth, the raw power, the beauty, the emotion. I cannot be without those things. I have become those things. I am Mexico. I am wild, raw, vibrant, and intense. Pressed to the heavens from between the rocks and the earth. I am not something many people here in my culture can tolerate. I am too extreme for America, yet too mild for Mexico.
I walk through my day, interacting with different people, knowing that not one of them understands my heart. Not a single person I meet in the hall, talk to on the phone, drive with on the freeway; not Brandon, Not Syl. They know my mind, my body, but no one yet knows my heart. I sit by the waters edge in the grey early night holding those damp, dusty, bold, vibrant pieces of me, washed in the earth, dried in the moonlight, while the lights from the city twinkle in the distance. I sit by the waters edge, whole. Every piece and part unpacked, exposed and unashamed, my heart on display for anyone to discover. But there is no one. I am alone tonight.
Oh Mexico. Oh how ALIVE I felt in those days. I sometimes wonder if I will ever feel vibrant, bold or excited about life ever again. I truly hope so. I hope someday to find my passion again.
On another note, Brandon? I haven't thought about him in AGES? I wonder what he's up to these days?
Now back to your regularly scheduled dog blog.
Sunday, August 03, 2008
A brand new title!
Moxie and I were entered in two grueling days of Obedience trials this weekend and we've come away with a couple of ribbons and a brand new Title. She now has a CD from both the UKC and ASCA! In watching the open and utility dogs, I'm itching to try something a bit more challenging, so we will be working that dumbbell! I hope to be showing in Open classes this time next year.
We got lots of great feedback from judges and other experienced dog people who were all very kind and, I think, glad to see some younger blood interested in the sport. I've got some good things to be working on to improve our scores and our work as a team. So enough training to keep us busy for a while.
It was SO HOT this weekend. Even in the Indoor with the AC on it was like an oven by the afternoon. On Saturday, Moxie and I were practicing in the parking lot, and I asked her for a stand stay, and I knew it was hot because while remaining completely in place she would gingerly lift one paw then the other as if to say, "Ouch Mommy! The cement is burning my feet!" We moved over into the grass after that.
I should have some video of the trial to upload and share with you soon.
We got lots of great feedback from judges and other experienced dog people who were all very kind and, I think, glad to see some younger blood interested in the sport. I've got some good things to be working on to improve our scores and our work as a team. So enough training to keep us busy for a while.
It was SO HOT this weekend. Even in the Indoor with the AC on it was like an oven by the afternoon. On Saturday, Moxie and I were practicing in the parking lot, and I asked her for a stand stay, and I knew it was hot because while remaining completely in place she would gingerly lift one paw then the other as if to say, "Ouch Mommy! The cement is burning my feet!" We moved over into the grass after that.
I should have some video of the trial to upload and share with you soon.
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