The Travels of Faith

Tournament! 8:30am. I stole some pancakes from Zach at the fields. Don’t forget your sunscreen! We were playing the #2 seed, and… it showed. Very windy day, but they were throwing well in the wind (gosh darn Minnesotans). The first point had lots of turnovers, and we nearly scored a bunch – but we didn’t. That was the longest point. The rest was a fun blow-out. We came close to scoring several times, but mis-threw or mis-judged, or… Life. Then 12-0 (game to 13) – WE FINALLY SCORED!! Pretzels not bagels! FYI – team name is Stale Pretzels. Like the Philly pretzel, but since we’re old/masters, stale.

Game two was better, but still lost by a bunch. Much more even with the team, but their use of the wind was better and it showed. I got the spirit award – for moving all the time and “making [the other team’s] cutters cry”. My strengths!

Then VERY DISAPPOINTING, we had no games scheduled for the afternoon. I gorged on snacks, and eventually went back to the hotel and crashed. Starting with phone diving type of crash, and then a 1.5 hours nap. So needed. I only got up because free dinner from the tourney on the beach. A lot of meat – the chicken was good.

Convinced a few people to go on a walk with me, in search of smoothies. While we did not find smoothies – we did find the Decoy Waterfowl Museum! Very cool. It had signs closed for wedding, but the guy let us in for a bit and gave us the grand (one room) tour. We learned about punt guns – nasty giant shot guns that could take out a whole flock of ducks in one shot. Now illegal. We learned about how decoys were used, and how hunting of waterfowl worked, and how it went from local to crossing state lines (ability to ship meat opened up markets) and then back (became illegal to sell wild game across state lines). Apparently there used to be way more birds at Virginia Beach. On top of all this learning and looking at cool (and very expensive) decoys, the guy also had a selection of rubber ducks for us to choose from! What a nice place.

Back to the hotel – tried one more ice cream place, but the shakes side was closed for the non-summer season. I gave up and got a shake at DQ, before joining teammates at the hotel pool. Where we obviously squirted water out the holes in the rubber ducks we just got, and threw them around trying to catch multiple with one hand. 2 – easy. 3 – much harder, but doable (I did not succeed on my try, but Elya did).

Out to the place right next door for dinner and margaritas. I’d say, all okay. Probably would not order a margarita there again. They did have friend plantains and good queso. Virginia also has this weird “white salsa”, which I don’t know that I like. Oddly sweet. It might have helped if I hadn’t thought it was queso when they brought it out with the on-the-house chips.

Post dinner, hotel for some hang and games. I was pretty tired, but made it through a full circle of Wavelength. Very entertaining game, and I did not all asleep. I also did my abs during part of it (gotta fit them in!). Then I said my goodnights and went to bed.

In order to wake up for another 8:30am game! Plus cleaning the hotel room out so we could check out before games. I had a slice of pizza for breakfast, so at least a little more  pre-game food than the previous day. Lower wind/better conditions. We didn’t win any of our three games, but we got 8 points in one and overall played decently. Much better looking scores than day one. Our last game I was very happy with how I played – multiples D’s, good movement. I was playing close defense on one person and got her head to my jaw when she tried turning through me… that was painful.

Post game my car got ready and left immediately, about 2pm. I did no driving at first because my head was a little not happy, and eventually because we didn’t need to stop again. I got home around 8pm, and hello pups! Got a little outside time, some training time (videos for class!) and then bedtime.

Aside: Champ and Pippin had a great time with Robin! There was dancing, hiking, and all sorts of shenanigans. Lots of happy looking dogs. Champ even slept the night on the bed with Robin!

Beach Nationals! Step one: the usual morning. Actually, I took my time and ended up getting to work later than intended, but – half day, so not a big deal. I stayed until close to 1:00pm anyway. Also not usual because I skipped abs, in favor of extra training with the dogs. That way I could prep extra Zen Logic homework, since you can only submit one at a time. Since Monday would be my next opportunity to submit homework, and Monday is the last day.

Very good training though. Worked more on “Drop It” – which I think if I practice like this, Pippin will get better very quickly. He’s already showing signs of improvement. We also worked on “Duration” – waiting longer for me to release him. Not a big deal for Pippin, once he understood he could hold for a while. Champ we went through the stretches, and did some minor strength. I’ll need to sign him up for a class so I don’t lose focus while I’m with Pippin.

Off to work – the air freshener thing has a weird smell in my opinion… but it does mask the dog smell. Pluses and minuses. Lunch today: Qdoba/Chik-Fil-A day! I had a lot of food… spicy chicken sandwich, a salad, and then I took a burrito to go (kind of… ate a little of it first). I left at 1:00pm but tried cleaning the car more while waiting for the 20 minutes to ready text. I had brought a vacuum – ran out of power almost immediately. Sad. Dog fur will stay everywhere.

Pickup of friends took longer than expected, due to an accident on the highway + me ignoring google’s work-a-round and committing to the city. But we got there! & then 6 hours to Virginia Beach, of which I drove about 2. Did a bunch of request round finalization with the help of passengers.

Arrived about 8, went to the brewery to eat + pickup team swag, and was very sadly waiting for my pizza for 40+ minutes. I didn’t even have to ask, they comp’d me the food. Other teammates ordered after and got pizza in 5-10 minutes. I was very tired and hungry and grumpy. Then the pizza wasn’t that great (although it was very fresh!).

Back to the hotel earlier than the rest of the crew, got ready for bed – murphy bed! Pulls down from the wall in the living room. Pretty comfortable – plus not much pollen by the beach, so good for my sleep! Don’t worry – pre-bed, I did get my abs in.

Written 5/14. I thought I had already written the 8th, whoops!

Good things I did today:

- Kept up with my morning walk/abs/training (Zen Logic class still going on)

- Pre-ordered Wegman’s for Robin, who will be coming 5/15-5/17 to take care of Pippin + Champ while I’m at Beach Nationals Ultimate. Pat on my back for this, I think I did well with what I stocked up on. A variety of green juices, some dog ice cream, cheese + cracker snacks… Also air freshener thing for my car, see if that helps.

- Laundry (sheets – prep for Robin)

- Request round picks for FPSL, made a list (on the phone with Sean while driving home… pre Wegman’s pickup!)

- Played with dogs

- Herding book club! Which I (a) was prepared for, and (b) spent some time prepping during, and (c) playing with dogs more

- Prepped car to have other occupants

From the beginning, I knew today would be a tired day. Bad night of sleep, waking up early despite changing my alarm - not good signs. I mixed up where I did my abs this morning. For the bumps/softness it was better, but it was a little close to the road for the dogs to not be engaged, and Champ wasn't feeling soccer. Probably too tired. It worked out, I called Pippin back any time he strayed. Gave out treats to people. Was tricky with the ball to make it close enough to Champ engaging that Pippin focused on it. Abs stayed fairly short, good set of pushups, and then inside. Zen Logic homework of "Leave It", uploaded and transferred to YouTube, then I took the computer to finish the post later and went to work. Older kid (Kid A) was outside, and said wait! Turns out she couldn't let the dogs out today, and Brian forgot to tell me - she was reminding him. Not a problem - texted the actual dog walker, and she was able to make it.

Another 50 minute commute, bad week. I arrived 8:35. Later than desired but not terrible. Tired all day, but got some stuff done and can run the app. Irritatingly, can't run it from Visual Studio right now. I'm going to spend a little time on that tomorrow morning, we'll see if I can get it up. I did catch up on more social onboarding! Tomorrow might get me the rest of the way, with the SIG social after work.

Stayed late -> home late (plus stopped for gas). 6:20. & still quite tired. We walked, Pippin didn't want to come in, we eventually did some training. For Zen Logic/Pippin, some generalization of Leave It. To be honest, not sure if it was good or bad? For both new objects, he grabbed them the first go, and then the rest did well. I'll get feedback tomorrow (maybe try in the morning first). I did get the kitchen cleaned, clothes put away, Lie Down training, draft request round prep, water the plants... and write three journal entries to catch. Probably should have gone to bed at 10:00, but 10:45 isn't too bad. Pippin was restless until about 10:30 anyway.

I just realized I forgot to catch up on my training logs, so that will be tomorrow. Oh! I also finished the homework chapter for Herding Book Club (Positive Herding 101, Chapter 22 - Easy/Hurry). Good job Faith!

FPSL Draft day! I woke up a bit tired. Allergies still not too bad, I think. We did the usual walk/abs/training, though nothing for Pippin's class. Just quick, lie downs and some stretching. Out of the house with the dogs by 7:20! & then... an accident on the highway slowed us down. We didn't get to the dog sitter's until 8:20, so sad. Apartment building, but hey - they don't need much. Pippin escaped his leash in the building - which I felt really bad about because there was clearly someone who didn't like dogs in the front area. The leash was not closed properly, apparently. Luckily he did not go say "hi" to that lady, though he did round the corner and say hi to the person coming off the elevator. Luckily that was the sitter!

Work - some coding, some team stuff, some social. Met up with Andrea at 4:30 to review people in the draft (excellent choice - confidence boosting). Went to pick up the dogs, very easy. Apparently Pippin does --not-- like the elevator. I understand - weird!

We stopped by Edgely to let the dogs run - makeup games were getting ready to start, but Champ got some soccer in while Pippin mostly stalked.

Draft time! Wissahickon Brewery. I was going to leave at least Pippin in the car, but I felt bad so both dogs came. Pippin definitely took some attention, but not too bad. He and a corgi became friends. Everyone got pizza crusts (and actual dinner). The draft, once it started, went very quick! Rapid fire! It slowed down after the first round a bit, but sill rapid. I had a lot of fun - and left later than intended for my game.

Showed up just after the second half started, and apparently they were very far behind. We definitely caught up some with Michelle and me there, but... would have helped if we'd been earlier. I feel a little bad about that. But too late now! Also Sean & I did discuss during that extra time, which impacted our picks. Team isn't complete yet (request rounds + random assignment), but fingers crossed we'll be competitive.

Home late and did a bit of training, then crashed. Writing this 5/7 as well :). Did not get to sleep quickly, or sleep the best.
Only pictures of the draft board - kind of boring.

Felt pretty awake today! Morning walk, abs, training with Champ and Pippin. I got out early so I could get back for the children (helping out neighbors) + dogs… and there was extra traffic. +20 minutes. So sad.

Work I realized that my new team is very different in terms of team dynamics from previous teams. Also that there are technical things I can bring over from my previous team.

Left about 4:10, Brian was worried about making the sitter stay late – no problem! Good traffic. Got the dogs out, kids and nanny came over. Nanny left, and kids came up to observe dog training. I have a lot of entertaining videos. Pippin did very well despite the distractions! Zen Logic, station w/ bowl & handler moving.

Walked outside while the older kid who didn’t want to come made mac & cheese for dinner. Did some “races”, tugged with Pippin, circled with Champ. Beautiful day. Then we went into the main house, to check on food. I was going to put the dogs away, but the girls insisted on them coming. FYI: children, very loud. Harmonica, loud talking, random noises… Whew! Cute but a lot!

Right before food was ready I brought the pups home, did an extra training session for 2 minutes (same Zen Logic w/ Pippin, Champ waiting), fed them, and ran back over with my own food.

Brian got back, I rushed to get ready for frisbee, and we headed out – 10 minutes late, not terrible! Excellent game for us, we won 15-5. I did a lot of handling the first half. Winning also guaranteed us first seed, so we'll play for the championship 5/12.

Champ & Pippin were playing post game, when a BIG dog started coming up. Off leash, owner far away not paying attention (we’ve seen this dog here before). I got Champ out (great recall), but Pippin went to say hi – I let it happen, because once it starts you can send mixed signals if you interfere, and the big dog looked like he/she was happy to say hello. Luckily, this was correct – they sniffed and wagged tails for a little while. I stayed close/ready, while someone else made sure grumpy old man Champ didn’t come – just in case.

EOD: Was too tired to write, hence this is written 5/7. Thought getting sleep was worthwhile. Also - only took one picture today, of the great leftover food I got from work.

Woke up after a great night of sleep and actually felt... awake! The rain maybe helping with the allergies? Or that I started running an air filter in my room? Or maybe because I pushed back when I take the allergy meds to 2pm, so they were working better? Who knows - but I'm happy about it.

Pippin slept in the pen - despite me not putting him in there and the door being open. He went to howl at the window and I managed to get him to the bed instead (before going to sleep), and I think he went again but thought better and self-penned. Good boy! Champ slept downstairs - I think he was too exhausted from herding and playing to bother coming up.

Usual morning, just a little later than I normally start. A very nice walk, piled up some sticks. Went inside and wasted some time on my computer while the dogs recovered from the "walk". Back outside to do abs - where I realized today was Twist tryouts, and not an open day. My first thought was "oh no, I missed them!" - then I realized it wasn't even 8am, there was no chance I'd missed anything. Came back inside, did some training. Chin rests on an object & lots of lie downs for Pippin. 30+ lie downs, in a few sets. Switched from food to toys for the speed sets, he drops down much faster with a toy. Did some me walking away and out the door (just a couple). Champ also joined us for some - good to work with, because he is a big distraction for Pippin. I really need to work on Pippin staying calm while I work with Champ - right now he freaks out if he can't get to us. I tried a line in the room, near the station - I was able to get a little done with Champ, very calm stuff - but hit the boundary very quickly. This may be a slow process. I knew this was an issue already, from when Champ and I work outside and if Pippin isn't in a crate he'll jump up on the counter to get to the window to see us.

Try-outs were good. Well organized, fun, instructions were clear - can't ask for much more! I did some shopping at REI on the way back, and got home about 3:40. Took the dogs out for a walk. My evening was not the most productive - I wasted at least an hour on the black hole that is the internet. But I did check most things off my to-do list. Laundry, FDSA post (late - could have gotten feedback tonight, but my timewasting meant I posted after the instructor checked - whoops). Training with dogs, including some lie downs outside - initially good, but then I went too long for Pippin and ended on a streak of 4 failures. The setup was good though, with Champ as a focus for Pippin making it harder but still doable. I think I should repeat that experiment. Zen logic was generalizing station to a pen - that was extremely easy for Pippin. Champ did a good job waiting while I worked on that. We also did a bunch of little movement things outside (between the lie downs).

Cooked dinner, joined costco, ordered a/c units from costco, could have been in bed earlier but for the wasted time plus my commitment to writing this post :). Also half the post got deleted in a refresh, which was sad... But here we are!

P.S. I do not know how Champ managed to get his head in  the rope, but it looks questionable.

Slept well! My eyes are still unhappy with the allergies, and I would have liked to sleep in... but can't win them all.

Champ was maybe stuck under the bed - his rear end was under, and with the lack of traction he struggled to get out. I slid him over so he could stand up. Note to self: buy more rugs, asap.
Pippin was in the ex-pen, because while he restrained himself from barking out the open windows in my room... I'd opened some in another room to create some airflow, and he started howling out them. Maybe learning though?

We did our usual morning - walk, abs, train - before heading out to Raspberry Ridge for some herding. The herding day was excellent - Pippin went in twice, for about 20 minutes total. The first round he got tired, but the line was too small for me to catch. As he tired out he split sheep more and got a little grippy. After finally getting him and going out, he was tired enough he didn't even go back to the fence line - just found water, then shade to lie down in (under the cart).
Round two with Pippin, we had a real line on so I could catch him, and worked on where to stop and staying out wide. It went very well. Video will be posted on Instagram at some point.

Champ we went in 3 times, and are working on NOT wearing. Straight lines, further from the sheep. We need this if we want to continue herding as Champ gets older. Physically, it is much less taxing than wearing. It is also much more effective when done correctly. Good for both Champ and I to work on.

We hung out with the crew after, though I was exhausted and took a nap. Managed to semi-rally, and we got a yurt setup to be used for sleeping and/or socializing. Ate some ube icecream. Lots of dogs playing. Purchased 2 containers of plain yogurt (so good!). Then decided to head home - hindsight an excellent decision. Sleeping in the van is great, but I don't have guards for rain on my windows yet and windows closed would be so hot.

Dogs are wiped, I'm wiped.

Soooo tired... just not sleeping solidly, allergies, ... Pippin was in the expen again, because he didn't howl - but ran over and made some precursor noises. I'm hoping that is a sign he's starting to get used to the open window sounds. If not - probably going to have an A/C unit soon anyway! Champ started coming to check if I was awake about 5am, every 5-10 minutes. I think - hindsight - it was because his water bowl was empty. Note to self, bigger water bowl upstairs.

I need to make my mornings a little shorter - 5:50, wasted 10 minutes on my phone, shower, dogs out on a walk, abs/soccer, training (this was longer than intended), post video... didn't get out until 7:40. It was all good things though, even if it did run me late.

Training - could have been shorter, but was also good. I did 3 short rounds of chin rest with Pippin. It was only going to be two, but I forgot to record... third one wasn't as good because he was getting tired, but still improvements. We are --not-- there yet on chin rest, but between that and the evening session, progress is happening. He's much more accepting of my hand under his chin now, and will intentionally touch it, but still avoids at times.

Champ training, we did directionals outside. I got a little frustrated about some errors, but it was actually pretty good - going around the circles, focusing on aways. I pre-placed food quite a bit which doesn't hurt.

Work - started coding and got an initial class going. Still need to wire it in everywhere, but it felt good - and like I remember a lot more quickly than I expected. Good sign!

Post work, I was exhausted (well, during too). I didn't leave the car for 10 minutes, but eventually got out and went on a walk with the pups. Tried taking a nap, Champ kept coming to lick my face between playing with Pippin - but still felt restful. Then I was going to do training, but ran into Hannah, and instead went up the hill and watched the sunset with the whole crew. Very pleasant evening - where I forgot to feed my dogs until almost 9, whoops - but they didn't seem to mind. I also didn't have any electronics on me, so no distractions (or pictures), just enjoying the company and outdoors.

Did get some more training in - a few very good recall practices outside. Another round of chin rests inside - with Champ on the mat waiting, and then flipping roles so Champ got his chance.

Aside: the dog taker-outer, aka 8.5 year old, missed with the expen clips (whoops! they are hard to see), so Pippin was loose all afternoon. The only damage he did was to the bed he'd already gotten a small chunk from. Now it is... way worse than a small chunk.

Pippin slept in the expen last night - I had the window open, but top side so it wouldn't be direct access. However, that did not stop him from going and howling at the outdoors - so right in the crate! He did not settle immediately, but beyond some quiet whoofs did not make more noise. Otherwise - slept pretty decently! Not perfect, maybe try taking allergy med at night instead of in the morning to help with the sleep... or switching off claritin type because it seems ineffective.

Morning was 6:15-7:45, I would like to be a little quicker/out earlier. I did get everything in though! Great morning walk with the pups, little ab workout while throwing a ball for Champ and Pippin observes, and training with both pups. Pippin - Zen Logic still, working on Chin Rest. Champ - stretches. Yesterday I did a mini strength session with him, and I want to get back on the ball with that - 3 times a week. Maybe in the evenings, TBD. Need to keep his rear end functional.

Then I got ready, fed the dogs, and on to the commute! Brought my computer so I could finish posting to FDSA when I got to the office/after the video was ready.
Work was good today - finally got Tango building (thanks Clegg!), so ready to start real work. Still doing social onboarding - so many people to talk to everywhere. At least a few more days for that, I'm guessing. Was also reminded to take a midday walk, beautiful weather (which if I wasn't working, I'd be in all day... oh well!). Meeting about spreads felt good - additional details on how things function, but also recalled a lot and some was review. I was pretty tired end of day though - ready for a nap by 4 (okay maybe 2...), but pushed through.

Also, talked with Clegg about ATVs - he had some good recs. I'd like to make moves sooner rather than later on that front. Will be very helpful for farm work, and I don't really want to clean up the current fence debris without a trailer to put stuff on. Why do trailers cost so much??

Evening with the dogs - very tired Faith, but good for pups. Walked up to the fields, wandered around there a bit. More soccer play. Lots of outside time. Some great but short training too! Champ waiting on the mat, Pippin doing chin rest - HUGE progress. Actual chin rest offered a couple times (then we overdid it). Very happy with the effort. Outisde with Champ, I worked on directionals again - also very good. Pippin was a little in the way on the line, but mostly successful. Used red barn for treats, but it was getting darker so hard to see.

Also had Herding Book Club today - mostly caught up on the reading while I ate. Big thought of the day: when I teach Champ directionals, I focus on the direction and not so much the shape he is making. Barbara Buchmayer has a much heavier emphasis on the shape, especially when discussing "out" and "close", that I can probably bring at least some of into my practice.

Yesterday's revelation: it is probably easier for shorter people to not accidentally teach dogs to jump for toys. When I hold a toy, unless my arm is straight down or I'm bent over, Pippin has to jump a little for it. If I was shorter, this wouldn't be an issue!

First day back at SIG. Terrible night of sleep - hot, fan doesn't work, don't have an a/c unit yet, when I opened the window to let air in at 2am... 4am saw Pippin howling at the open window. 5am I started feeling hungry.

But! We made it. Great morning walk with Champ and Pippin (7.5 months now). Everyone stayed mostly in sight and involved - goals I strive for. I got a mini ab session in, and had time to relax. Due in the office at 9am, so I left at 8:05 and was a bit early.

Back at work was good - nice to see so many familiar faces. Managed to push through the day despite tiredness, but I did have trouble reading the screen after 3:30pm... I also felt like I could offer good advice during a meeting, even though I've been out of the game. Nothing's changed! Just kidding, kind of... things have changed, but it is all still familiar and I think I'll get back in the groove pretty easily. Hopefully tomorrow I'll finish setting up my environment in the morning and be ready to start diving in.

Andrea saw me on the way to the car end of day, and we walked and talked. I need to remember to get outside during the day once or twice.

Commute wasn't too bad, ~45 minutes home (40 in). Then I got to just walk outside and run around with the dogs! When all I wanted to do was sleep though... push through! More training with the dogs - and getting back on the workout bandwagon with Champ. I think I should setup a Tues/Thurs workout schedule with him. Doesn't need to be big, just enough to keep the back end strength going.

And... restarting this blog. I might go do some previous stories since moving to the farm, we'll see - definitely some fun/crazy days. I want to focus on what I'm doing around the farm, and future plans. This past weekend I started writing my future business plan, farm to teach herding on. There is work to do to get there, and this is a beginning. While I'm working at SIG, there are other things I can work on to forward my plans. Getting Pippin to a championship, starting training on the side, solidifying the business plan, making projections/timelines.

So... welcome back! Here we go!