I have gotten a little more clarity in my head about the way forward with the job thing, but the ultimate issue right now is that I really just have to wait out the next couple of months and see where things fall back there. I am bound and determined to be moved back to the NYC area by the end of the year, whatever it takes.
Worst case scenario- Maybe I will have to leave my current company and get a beginning level sales job (I would try to come back in a couple of years once I have the required "experience" because I do really like who I work for). The sucky thing is that that may very well mean scrapping for commission and eating Top Ramen for a couple of years. Yes, I am sure I would be able to pull that (and probably earn good commission eventually), but the idea was to be able to go back to NYC and move up the ranks in life, not start over from scratch.... But I will do what I have to do. Seriously hope that these next few months really prove Mr. NYC to be the person that I think he is and that he is committed to helping me (but I don't expect him to pay my way in life). I am determined to turn life's curve ball into a Grand Slam, but for now I just want this sick to my stomach feeling of anxiety to go away...
To make myself feel better, I put in for time off around the Fourth of July. If I cannot make anything happen between now and then, will be going back for a 10 day visit. Yep, that's gonna be a small fortune (unless somebody voluntarily offers their couch to crash on, but not expecting that), but by that point I am going to NEED it.
Dog wise, trying to figure out what to do. I am already screwed on a couple of three day weekends I wanted to take for trials in May and June. AAC regionals might still be a possibility, but I need to get Duchess back in real training. Can I afford being tied up another night with school stuff? Can I afford not to?
So, where does that leave me? Wait and see what the definitions of these new positions are, determine where I might fit in best, and see if there are any openings in the NYC area that would be viable for me. If nothing viable falls into place by mid-summer.... I may be looking into "other options" outside my current company. I have no idea what those "other options" might look like, but I know that there would be some undesirable consequences if I have to go that route. I do know that, if I leave the company, I will likely have to pay back my tuition reimbursement thus far (which I can't afford to do) and have a 401K loan that will turn into a disbursement because I will not be able to pay it back in full immediately (hence I will owe taxes on the money). I would also end up footing the bill for my entire job search back there, including going for interviews, etc. If I get an interview internally, my travel and everything would be paid for and the time travelling and interviewing would be paid as work time. Even so, I know that no matter what happens it's time and I have to get out of here ASAP. If I am not back there by summer, I plan to go back for a visit around the Fourth of July.
Now we wait and see what happens... Will keep you posted..
So I was talking with Mr. NYC last night. Rather, it started on Tuesday when I got back to work. He called me (at work) to ask me a semi-work related question, but his bigger thing was being concerned over how I am doing with what has been going on (yes, he was in on the whole losing my hair thing from day one). I still hadn't gotten the definitive blood test results at that point, so we agreed to circle back and talk after work some night this week (last night). He really seriously cares about me, to the point that he has said (several times now), that if I ever need anything that I can call him anytime. Near the end of the conversation, he says that he's glad that it isn't anything too serious (BTW, already feeling much more energetic after being on the iron supplement since Monday) but that he's sorry that I have to go through this. It was a genuine empathy for me thing, not the fake, placating type of "I'm sorry" crap I get from my mother.. But the second that he launched into it, it actually kind of pissed me off and put me on the defensive. I started to speak up and try to cut him off, but then I shut myself up. What is wrong with me? He REALLY DOES feel bad for me. Why does that make me mad?
I was driving to work this morning and trying to psycho-analyze that reaction. I guess it comes down to this- I really don't want people to feel sorry for me. And if they do, I have a hard time dealing with it, even if it's genuine, because of how much fake crap that has been pitched at me in the past (and continues to be pitched at me).. I would rather have empathy expressed to me in the manner of, "That sucks," said with a genuine feeling behind it (not sarcasm). Maybe that's because that's how I tend to express empathy, and I don't say it sarcastically (if I MEANT it sarcastically, you would know it). Yes, IT SUCKS that I had to get to the point of losing my hair to figure out my body was crashing. As I replied back to him, "That's life. Things could be a whole hell of a lot worse." He was glad to hear that I had that kind of perspective on it.
Not to mention, he wanted to know all about the weekend with Duchess (aka Super Dog to him, he probably can't remember her name). He gets all gushy and sentimental when I talk about her. He can tell that I love her and that she's a cool dog. He would really love her too (I think he already does, even though he's never met her). I look forward to being able to share her with him, hopefully sooner than later. I think she'll like him too...
Run 1: Excellent Standard- This was a really nice run, except that she blew the weave poles. Didn't pull out, just got completely distracted before she could hit the entry (they were paralell to the side of the ring).
Run 2: Excellent JWW- Clean run. Didn't make time... Threw in about six extra front crosses just so I could keep moving. I am sure it was quite entertaining for those watching.
Day 4
Run 1: Excellent Standard- Clean run. Didn't make time... Seeing a theme here...
Run 2: Excellent JWW- Pokey slow. Wrong end of the tunnel and then missed the weave entrance.
Problems this weekend- Pulling out of the weave poles, SLOOOW weave poles, don't want to down on the table (she eventually did every time, but it took FOREVER), pulling off jumps (split equally between my errors and her errors), just plain SLOW.
I don't know what to do at this point. The slowness almost seems like the shutting down she does in the obedience ring (PS- I skipped obedience completely on Saturday, didn't want to put her through another bad experience in the ring and didn't think there was any hope for a better result than Friday). She did speed up an RUN (rather nicely, a couple of times) after she/we had already screwed up and NQ'd. I wish I could do some concentrated training with her, but nothing is going to fall into place until I figure out which direction life is going in (and it had better go in the NYC direction for anything real to happen).
Right now, IF we are still here, my next trial will be my club's trial at the end of next month. Hoping that we are not still here, I might otherwise be looking at a trial in NJ in April.
She really needs to get back in a class again. I really want that, but as long as I am here and committed to teaching rally for my club, I can't do it. With the college classes I can only manage to be "tied up" on an ongoing basis for one night per week. If I move, I can ditch that commitment and will also be able to pull some equipment out and do some apartment agility. The pause table could live in the living room again for a while and we could put out the weaves in a hall of something.
I JUST WANT TO GET ON WITH LIFE!!! All the stupid "little" things about being here that keep getting in the way. If I started listing them, you wouldn't understand why some of these "little" things add up to major disruptions in our (Duchess and me) life. I need to get to a place where my life schedule is a clean slate except work and school and that I can build things around that the way I want/need them to be without anybody or anything else interfering.
Run 2: Excellent Standard- Duchess started slow and blew an A Frame/tunnel discrimination because she was SNEEZING! No, not "reverse sneezing" where they go into breathing spasms, but actual, honest to God SNEEZING! And then she did the tunnel AGAIN! And then she just kinda stood there and I FINALLY got her up the A Frame. The rest of the run, as I recall, wasn't that bad.
Run 3: Excellent JWW- Okay, my dog is allergic to agility! SNEEZING AGAIN for the first 1/3rd of the course! She was trying to keep going and then just finally came to a dead stop in front of a jump. After the refusal, she quit sneezing (go figure) and actually turned on the afterburners! Pretty darn good speed for the other 2/3rds of the run and the nicest set of weave poles thus far this weekend or last. Now if she can run tomorrow like she ran the last 2/3rds of this course, we've got it made!
Novice A Obedience- Agility and obedience together is NOT a magic bullet, as I had thought after the Seattle KC show last year. She dragged through the heeling and wouldn't come on the recall. We'll try again tomorrow. If I didn't need just one more Q for her CD/VCD1, I'd just quit. I like obedience and she likes the training (she heels like she should be the National Champion in training, go figure), but the ring is just too stressful. Debating whether I should maybe change course, stop working on the CD for a while and take her back out for rally and make a huge effort on making it fun for her.
Run 2: Excellent Standard- Pulled her off a jump in a pinwheel. Thought that she had committed and...she hadn't. She also hit her weave entrance, gradually slowed down, and popped around the 8th pole. Since we were NQing, I just went on. Have decided there is no point in making her re-do weaves. The remainder of the course, she sped up and ran pretty nicely.
Run 3: Excellent JWW- This was pretty darn good (albeit she was running kind of slow), until she pulled off a jump on the last line because she saw something on the floor (mats) that was like a speck of paper. Of course the Beagle in her said "It might be edible". I then pulled her off the second to last jump too, but didn't matter at that point. She had nice weaves and, despite her appearing to be slow, I think we would have gotten a few MACH points if she hadn't been distracted.
1 for 3, but much better than last weekend. I didn't let down on my handling and will continue to push her tomorrow. Hopefully we will finish our CD/VCD1 tomorrow too. If we finish tomorrow, I am not going to make her go back and do another run Saturday.
No Thyroid issues. Blood test came back smack in the middle of the normal range. Have an appointment with a dermatologist Monday afternoon. The good news is that the hair loss is not getting worse and my hair itself has gotten better. In the two weeks before I REALLY noticed the thinning (I notice it had thinned in the back a bit as early as the middle of December, but had not noticed it had thinned ALL OVER) it had gotten really dry and brittle. If I tried to condition it more, it just made it flat and limp. It is back to being silky again and I can actually style it enough to make it not look so bad. Have to live with the split ends though, but things could be worse.
I will load up the videos from last weekend at some point this weekend. There was nothing really impressive, but it is Duchess running... Hoping for impressive this weekend. Need to finish that darn FAST title (I blew that last weekend), need some decent MACH points (Would 50 be too much to ask at this point since we had 0 last weekend?) and would like at least one Double Q (Please?). We also need to finish her CD. I think that will happen.
NYC job news update- They are STILL on a hiring freeze for all positions back there. The hiring manager should know something around February 1st (maybe?). I have a hard time believing that if I was not still legitimately in contention for this job that she (the hiring manager) would not have told me something in the past couple of months. Hopefully some of the people may have taken themselves out of consideration due to the long wait.
I promise that I will run my dog with conviction, like I MEAN IT, in Portland. No more tentative weave pole handling. No more not holding her accountable for her start lines (but I won't pull her for breaking).
Day 1
Run 1: Open FAST- Not a bad run. She blew her weave entrance (tentative handling) and decided to take a sniffing detour when I first sent her to the send, but then she recovered. Q'd (barely) with 55 points.
Run 2: Excellend Standard- Sniffed on the start line and had to just about drop kick her over the first jump, sniffed in the weaves (2 refusals), and then didn't want to down on the table. She ran nice in between. NQ
Run 3: Open JWW- Pretty good run, but barely made time. Q with NO MACH points.
Day 2
Run 1: Open FAST- This SHOULD have been our title. She blew the weave entrance (tentative handling AGAIN) and then wasted time back-weaving. The buzzer went when she was in the middle of the teeter in the send. In hindsight. I DIDN'T NEED the points from the weaves to Q. Damn me! Guess we'll get the title next weekend.
Run 2: Excellend Standard- Another sniffing start line. Was a pretty good run until she decided to get on the teeter and then turn around and get off the teeter to sniff something. AAARGHH! NQ
Run 3: Excellent JWW- Another sniffing start line (theme, have to fix this and the tenative handling with the weaves). She just ran too slow. I got WAY ahead of her and front crossed the weaves to keep my momentum (was going to cross after them). She popped at the second pole. The rest of the run was good, but still WAY TOO SLOW... NQ
So here's where I'm at.. I honestly don't think there's a MACH in our future. Can Duchess run fast? Yes!!! She did last fall, but she is so hit and miss. At this point in time she is a bit overweight, however I don't think it is that specifically OR an injury OR truly a motivation problem. Also, at this point in the game, I'm just not inclined to spend inordinate amount of time and money trying to diagnose and fix this problem. We'll try for our MX, MXJ, MXF. Going forward, I am not doing any more instances of two trial weekends in a row (unless it is a special event situation, and this will carry forward to future dogs too to keep my balance in life). IF by the time we get our MX, MXJ, MXF something changes about her performance in the direction of more consistant speed, we may keep going. If not, I will quit trialing her, but make sure she is in a master's level class as long as she is sound and still likes to play (because she really does LOVE agility, just can't get her back to where we were two years ago performance wise).
PS- It made my day to see that Mr. NYC has wished me good luck on Facebook. Just another reason why I like the guy.
Will be heading down to Argus Ranch outside of Auburn tomorrow for the Evergreen Afghan Hound Club trial. Three days with two having FAST. I hope to finish our OF this weekend. If not, I really want at least one Q and we can finish next weekend in Portland. I also want at least one Double Q (would be our first) and to at least Q in either Standard or JWW each of the other days (and get decent MACH points). Between this weekend and next weekend, I would like 3 Double Qs and 100 MACH points, our OF and hopefully the first leg of our XF.
Went to Canada to do a drop in class tonight, as we hadn't seen equipment since mid-December. She was pretty gung ho and handled well, but my instructor commented that she is the fattest she has ever seen her. This is true. My mom and grandma keep feeding her and then saying, "It was just a crumb" or "I just let her lick the plate." I had it out with them and told them it had to STOP IMMEDIATELY. I have asked them at least a dozen times, NICELY, over the past year. At this point, if she gets injured due to carrying the extra weight, they can decide between themselves how they are going to split up the vet bills. Just another reason I need to move to NYC, NOW!
Sent an email to the hiring manager yesterday. Didn't want to seem impatient, however since I am going to be gone for most of the next week and a half I wanted to let her know and make sure she had my direct number to contact me. I got an out of office that showed this whole week, so I assume she is on vacation this week. Hopefully that means that things might start moving when she gets back next week and that I will be on her list of candidates to interview.
Went to the Doctor and had a blood test for Thyroid issues. I was normal last summer, but given that most of the loss must have happened in the past two weeks (during which I was also feeling somewhat fatigued) that might be it. I honestly hope so, because then I can go on medication and hopefully the hair will come back (QUICKLY please!!!). I should hear by Friday. If that is not the case, a trip to the dermatologist is in order and things may get much more complicated from there... Just hoping to keep what I have in the meantime at this point.
Yep, I'm freaked out. Didn't go to work today because I was a nervous wreck, but I realize that life goes on, hair or no hair, and for better or worse I am still the same person. That all sounds so nice, like I really don't care, but seriously... I DO! It's the perspective thing kicking in. I'm going to try and not let it ruin my life and hopefully this is just a temporary bump in the road. If it can't be "fixed", then we have a problem. In the meantime, I understand what guys who have to do comb-overs feel like. Not happy, but still looking forward to trialing Duchess the next two weekends.
Mr. NYC finally reviewed my proposal I sent him a month ago that he was mentoring me on. I hope this is a sign that he has heard something moving forward back there and that it's an indication I will need it soon. The input was that is was pretty good and that I should just work in the new 2010 company goals along with a few other things.
...
2009- Bes year of the decade for me. Finally got life going in the direction I want it, more or less. Here's to continuing the positive momentum into 2010 (especially the next couple of months).
My life really has come a million miles this year. A year ago I was still getting over getting kicked out of the place I had lived for 8 1/2 years. A couple of months later, the whole idea of moving on to a different job and moving to NYC started to happen. I subsequently made friends with Mr. NYC through working with him and let him know my plans. I went back to college online. I spent two weeks in California relaxing with the part of my family who really truly supports me and what I am trying to do with my life. I took a trip back to NYC and got to meet the people that I work with and check things out, which confirmed that that was truly the place I want to be. And now I am just waiting on the job to happen, which I will hopefully be hearing about in the next few weeks.
On the dog front, things were tumultuous. Relapse of anxiety from the car accident and a pulled muscle kept us sidelined and limited Duchess' performance for most of the year. She now is doing better with the anxiety than she has since the accident happened and we are spacing her accupunture sessions out to six week intervals. Her pulled muscle seems to have healed, however I have a slight concern as we took a couple of hikes last weekend (9 miles total) and she seemed a bit sore afterward (and yelped when my vet put in the needles in that area this week). Hopefully we will be able to make some serious progress toward her MACH this year. Right now we have 25 points and no Double Qs. I have two trials this month, 3 days one weekend and 4 days another weekend (Portland). We also entered obedience two days at Portland and will hopefully finally finish her CD and VCD1. My goals for these two weekends are at least one Q in Standard or JWW each day with at least 3 Double Qs, 100 MACH points between the two weekends, finish our OF and get a Q toward our XF. After that, I will jopefully be getting an interview in NYC and life will be moving forward (which means our next trials would be on the east coast).
I can't wait to see what 2010 will bring. I truly believe that things are going to continue moving forward and that I will finally be able to get on with life.
Just ordered my "holiday" present for myself, a Flip HD camcorder. This means there will be Duchess agility videos in the New Year! (and yes, I will post them!).
Had a great conversation with Mr. NYC while driving home from work on Thursday (yes, I use a Bluetooth headset!). He was making Italian Hot Dogs (sounded awesome, he seems to be quite the foodie). We talked about the job thing (he is happy I'm still in the running, really wants me back there), food, books, movies, etc. (found out mom is an English teacher and really instilled a love of reading in him and his sister). It was just a really great conversation in general, especially since he was in no hurry to get me off the phone after we got done talking work stuff. I have finally figured out after knowing him for 10 months (or something like that) that he REALLY means it when he says I can call him anytime. He isn't just saying that to be nice.
He asked me where I was looking at living when I moved back there (WHEN, not IF, and that came from HIM) and I said I had mostly been looking at places in Jersey City on Craigslist for the past few months. Which led him to mention (I AM NOT TRYING TO READ ANYTHING INTO THIS...) that his lease was up in a couple of months and that he was looking at Jersey City himself. He currently has a roommate and is debating whether he should go for a nice place with a NYC view or if he should just keep it on the cheap side and buy a place in a couple of years. Now this all could have been (and likely was) completely innocent conversation, but you have to admit the timing and how it was set up (remember, HE asked about where I was looking at living). Soooo... my only issue with doing THAT (if THAT was even in the realm of reality) would be that guys like a challenge in a relationship and living together would just make everything too convenient. Or maybe he doesn't want a challenge, based on all the bad dates he professes to have been on. My big thing is keeping up a friendship with him, but more than that would be icing on the cake (however have to get the cake, i.e. the job and move, first). FYI- I am sure I mentioned it before, but he seems to like my dog even though he's never met her and did insinuate that he had thought about getting one last summer. He also said that whenever I came back again (whether for an interview or to check things out some more), he would hang out with me more. I must have intrigued him in some way in the short period I spent with him in the office and then out at happy hour, even though we never got any time to ourselves to talk (he had a colleague come with us to happy hour).
We get points at work that can be applied toward gift cards based on our monthly performance. I just cashed in for $70 in Amazon.com gift cards and plan to use that toward buying an inexpensive video camera (possibly a Flip). I want to be able to get Duchess' trials on video for posterity, because we will probably not trial past 2011 on any regular basis (she would be 10 then). It will be a good training tool for the next dog, but any thoughts of that have to wait until I manage to get myself resettled elsewhere.
Plan on going to agility practice tonight. Duchess is restless and desperately needs something to do. The arena will be really cold!
In talking with Mr. NYC via email, he told me to contact the hiring manager regarding the position that is still open. True, I have probably not been aggressive enough, but part of me also thought that pestering the hiring manager would not ultimately work in my favor.
I sent her an email today and may call tomorrow if I do not hear anything back (hopefully I will). I explained to her that our conversation while I was back there (which she had stressed was NOT an interview, just more or less her feeling out my experience, etc.) was not a good representation of my understanding of the job. I did not articulate very well. I do realize what the job entails and recognize her concerns regarding the gaps in my experience, however I feel that my underlying skills are such that I can perform successfully at the job. I very much want to be able to have a customer facing position that allows me to make use of and grow upon the skills I have in working with business accounts. I also stressed that I have followed the suggestions she gave me while I was back there and that I had sought out any information I could regarding that side of the business, as well as mentorship from Mr. NYC in regard to the position before I had applied. I asked if I have any legitimate chance at the job this time around, and if not, for her to please provide me with input that will allow me to have a chance in the future when the opportunity arises. I also let her know that my "vacation" back there was really not set up to be a vacation. My intentions were to meet the people that I work with and check out the area with the intention to move there. My interactions with the people in the office and my impressions of NYC both solidified to me that that is the right place for me to be and the right group for me to work with.
We'll see what happens...
I don't set myself up for failure. I was seriously sure that I would at least get an interview. This is a huge blow to me. I finally find something that I CAN do and I WANT to do and I don't even get the chance to show what I am capable of. I knew that there were a couple of weak spots in my resume, but as previously stated, those things aren't technically requirements that you have previous experience in them, just that you can DO them (which I CAN). So what do I do when there will always be people who look better than me on paper? I will be going back to the hiring manager, since I know her, after the first of the year and asking her what I can do. I will go back and job shadow somebody for a whole week on my own dime if that's what it takes.
It appears that I am going to be getting a significant raise after the first of the year and that our department will be getting a really great new bonus plan, but neither of those things are going to keep me in the long run. I still don't want to stay HERE. There is nothing to keep me here, except the current paycheck situation, and the job is boring me to death 8 hours at a time. As long as I am here, I really can't get on with my life. Am going to throw myself back into as much dog stuff as I can manage with school and finances, since that is the ONLY thing that will keep me sane. Will start planning another NYC trip for summer. Will keep up my friendship with Mr. NYC :) Will go after whatever it is going to take to get where I want to be once I know what those next steps are.
In the meantime, though, I'm not going to sugar coat it. I'm miserable. I keep having thoughts at work along the lines of, "This is all I'm good for." I've had a hard time not crying lately when that happens (for that matter I pretty much was when my buddy called me last week as I previously posted about, but he had no idea, still doesn't, and I'm really embarrassed to tell him that I feel that way). I had NO INTENTION of still being around for the holidays. My family drove me nuts over Thanksgiving. The same thing happened back on the Fourth of July weekend. I can't even take time off to just relax at home because I can't stand being around them more than I absolutely have to. I won't survive two more three day weekends with them later this month. Can probably find something to do on New Years, but I don't want to celebrate Christmas at all. If the weather is half-way decent, I'll take Duchess for a hike that day. At the same time, there is still no point in me trying to move out. Reasons: I do help them out as much as possible (and they really can use help as long as I am around) and I do pay my share of things, even though they pretty much treat me like crap in return. There really aren't any reasonable places around here that take dogs (if they do, their requirements are usually rediculous). If I move, I don't have much in the way of real furniture and my current income won't support buying any without giving everything else up indefinitely. Since I ultimately have no intention of staying here (getting a job in NYC and moving is still a WHEN, not an IF, but WHEN needs to be soon), there is no point in locking myself into a lease.
I keep reminding myself that I have made so many positive things happen this year: I've lost 30 pounds, have my eating habits under better control, and like going to the gym, I got myself back in college, have made some solid friendships, and I actually decided on a direction in life. What is happening now doesn't take anything away from those things, but it really sucks to end the year by hitting a big fat dead end for the time being.
Still no job news. Was having an inordinately crappy day last Thursday, sinus headache and was being really mentally down on myself on top of it. And then Mr. NYC called and made my day. He really did call to ask about something work related, but ended up being about as warm and fuzzy as you could be on a call at work. He has been helping me prepare my 90 day proposal so it will be ready if/when I get an interview and was more or less asking when he could expect the next draft of it. I kind of launched into this, "Well, I still haven't heard anything..blah, blah, blah" on him and he said that he cared about me and he really wanted me to get the job and he was trying to be supportive and help me out in any way he could because I was his "gal pal" (which was said very proprietarily). I told him that I really appreciated everything SOOO much and that it really made my day to hear that. I realize by his actions all along that he really does want me to get this, but him saying what he said made me feel really good about our "friendship". Not to mention that he was actually a little upset that we hadn't actually "talked" to that point since I had left NYC. Still working on the proposal (should have it done in the next couple of days), but shot him and email last night thanking him again and saying that I really did miss talking to him (since he has been focusing more on his new job, I don't get to talk to him very much and I was used to talking to him a couple of times a week if not every day), but I didn't want to bug him too much. He emailed me back and, for the third time in the about ten months I've really gotten to know him, told me I could call him ANYTIME. Okay. Third time in ten months and the fact that he was actually upset about not talking with me, I take that at face value that he does really want me to call and that he isn't just being nice. Guess I'll get up the nerve to just call him and say "Hi" later in the week if I don't hear from him. Come on now, you like this guy, no time to get shy now....LOL
Since I am pretty much living in purgatory, I have decided that I am going to make plans and "live". The entries for Auburn and Portland next month have been sent in and motel reservations are made. I am making plans with friends going forward, with the "If I'm still around" disclaimer. If I get rejections letters (still thinking positively, this is just an IF), I have started thinking of what trials I want to do going forward for the next few months and will start planning another NYC vacation for summer. I might even start going back to my instructor in Canada after the Olympics, IF I'm still around. IF I'm still around in May, I think I will do AAC regionals and our goal would be to win the 10" Veterans division (however I would not go to Nationals in Calgary even IF I'm still around, want another trip to NYC worse). The biggest thing I have learned in the past couple of months is that I can't put life completely on hold, I have to keep on living, but at the same time I am not so stuck on any future plans that I can't dump them at a moments notice and pack up my life to head elsewhere.
Duchess is doing okay. I feel bad that we aren't doing much right now and it is hard to even walk her because it is freezing cold out and REALLY windy (like 20-30 mph with gusts to 50). The cold would be fine without the wind, but good luck with that. NW WA is like living in a minor hurricane during most of the winter. If it was not so crappy out, I would work on conditioning her to be able to jump 18" and try ISC at Portland. Starting the next set of college classes this week online. I know I got an A in the one class. Need to check if the second grade has been posted (should be an A or A-, depending on my final project grade, had some technical issues with PowerPoint when putting it together so it was not quite as good as it could have been, oh well).
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