The Travels of Faith

A good day for dogs. Morning and evening, we had great training with both pups. I finished the cleanup I’d started Sunday, and joined the crew for a s’more around the fire in the evening. Work was also solid. Posted a good video of Champ with some solid voice commands of “Chin”, “Target”, “Backup”, and “Up”. The end!

These two days kind of meshed into one. Starting off with a 5:45 natural wakeup, so sad. We went outside for a bit, hike/abs/training… and then tired Faith decided, after training, to hang out on the bed… Champ was on the twin bed I have at the foot of the bed, and Pippin was in the middle. I was petting them both from the foot of the bed, until I switched to nap mode. 24 minute timer… at about 21 minutes I reset it for another 24. Then again a few minutes early, I just shut the timer off. 2 hour nap at 7:30am! Clearly needed recovery from two nights of insufficient sleep.

Morning plans to go to another UTV dealer shot, I double checked if I’d missed the local sheep lady I’d emailed a month back. I had… at the Phoenixville market. But she was at an even closer market! Texted Hannah if she wanted to join, and we headed over separately. Pippin got left behind, but Champ got to come with. Much easier to have a real conversation with only one dog to worry about… especially if that one is Champ.

The market was very cute – some good stuff, although I just came away with some (sheep) yogurt and strawberries. Plus a ton of information! Julie the sheep lady was very helpful. She had contacts and info for a shearing guy, a hay company, and some potential grain people. She went over the healthcare she does with her sheep (pretty much what I expected/knew, good to verify). She also gets her wool processed elsewhere, and then sells the yarn at the farmers market – so now I know I have that option. I also asked if she knows anyone who might have some sheep for sale – yes! Julie has 9 female lambs she’s interested in off-loading. East Freysian, dairy ladies. Overall – a very successful conversation.

Stopped at home depot for some bolt cutters. I had originally planned to go herding in the afternoon, but that sounded like it was falling through, so was thinking I’d attack the barbed wire. Just as I was about to go, Sierra messaged and asked if I was coming. I called, and sounded like some help was needed on the duck pen. Decided to try and get there 3:30-4, but wanted to get a little done first. Managed some barbed wire removal, and then got ready – semi-prepped to stay overnight but not intending to actually – and loaded the dogs. Definitely not arriving by 4, left too late. 4:30! In time to join part of the puppy field hike.

Dogs had a blast at the field hike, and then I got the plans from Sierra for the roof of the duck pen. The plans were… questionable. Nothing had been started, but supplies had been bought. Initially I decided to ignore the plans, but then went along with trying them. It was basically – instead of wire mesh on a wood frame, put two pieces of wood on either end of the wire fencing, drape it over, and attach with hose clamps. Cut the wood, started attaching the first one, draped it… no. Nope. This was not going to end well. Frame everything!

Sadly I’d already cut a lot of wood into 3 foot sections, so we were stuck with that. Even so, needed more for the lengths of the frames. I waffled a few times, but end result: let the 3 foot sections go, in favor of 4x8 frames and one 10ft x ~53” frame (the pen was not square, one end was 51”). The 10ft frame was due to the little balcony/stairs sticking into the pen area. Otherwise it was a 12x12 – and the balcony was 8 feet in. So the 4x8 would cover the area without the balcony, and the 10ft x 53” would cover the rest.

By the time this had all gone down, and I was two frames in plus supports and some extra framing for around the balcony area (to prevent gaps)… it was almost 9pm. Pippin had spent a lot of time staring at the geese. Champ snagged treats on occasion, but mostly lay in the mud. I forgot to drink the water Sierra brought, but I did stop for pizza. First went to get food for the dogs and discovered I’d left the car door open, and Meg (dog) had trashed the place. She’d finished a bag of treats and most of the bag off supplements, and chewed up my hard plastic food container. Clearly got it open, and there was still some food left – just enough for my pups at least! Whoops, don’t leave doors open.

Bacon/pineapple/pepper, and excellent pizza combo. Ended up staying over, was definitely not driving home. Wrapped up the night posting my Fenzi course intro posts, and got to sleep around 10:30.

 To wake up at 6:15! Sleeping in because the room is so dark, success! Pups and I went on a short walk, and then a little before 7am I started in on the rest of the frames. Obtained the rest of the wood I needed from the barn, and off to the races. I was ready to test putting them up about 7:40, but needed a second hand. Packed up a bit while waiting, and started reading the Fenzi lectures, since class started June 1st (Fenzi, FDSA – online dog training classes).

The frames fit perfectly, and realized we could modify the 10’ x 53” frame a bit due to how I’d put the supports in – getting it closer to 48” so we could just run one length of the wire mesh. I was two screws away when the drill died, inconvenient – guess we’ll swap the battery out. While waiting for the battery (thanks Sierra!) I planned out filling in the gaps for the balcony area. When Sierra returned, I tested the theory with her (needed the 10ft frame lifted back up) – looked very good! So final result: 4 frames, filled gaps, and left the frames for someone else to put the wire fencing on.

9:30am already, and I had wanted to be home by 10am… oh well. I packed the car and ate a piece of leftover pizza as I took Champ in with some sheep (he said, “Finally!”). Champ did very well. Pippin – not so great. We kept it short (3 minutes), but he was circling and a bit amped, and got a bite in after I’d been trying to end the session for a bit.

Loaded the dogs up, went to talk to Lisa briefly, and then on our way… about 5-10 minutes later I turned around. I needed to give Pippin a second run on sheep, he had been so hyped up watching sheep while I was working, and the rest of the time staring at geese… He needed a second session after letting the pent up frustration out. Plus the drive time was perfect for rest. We got back, went in – Champ once, Pippin once. Great job by both of them. Pippin was much more relaxed in his movements (or at least slower and smarter).

Now we can go home 😊. Car, drive, home, do some work cleaning up fence posts/yard debris I’d left behind – partly with dogs, partly without because they were getting tired. Followed a flower path with the younger kid and it led us to some adults and then into a snowy cold world (imagination!) and eventually Candy Land with a chocolate (mud) slide. Also did some more Fenzi classwork – got through all the released lectures, and did some work with both dogs. Only posted for Pippin (FUNctional Fitness). Champ’s class, Mimicry, I needed to figure out what he actually has on solid voice commands, and it was going to be a long first video.

A non-standard morning where I forgot to do abs after deciding to mix it up and go from walk straight to training. Pippin we actually just did some cuddles. He wanted to be in the training room, but didn’t seem in the mindset to actually train. No worries!

Standard day – tired because I couldn’t fall asleep. Dogs at day care with a ne person, ex-coworker who switched to a WFH all the time role. Good day at the office other than tiredness. Ultimate frisbee after work, picked the dogs up and stopped by the store to get bacon and apples for the post game grilled cheese.

Good game – we were doing very well the first half, then the other team picked it up a notch and we started making some questionable decisions under the higher pressure. Still pulled out the win, 15-11. On to Post Game! The apples were a huge success – great add to the grilled cheese. The bacon got cooked up at the end, and Champ and Pippin were happy to help finish the package off. I’d say very successful. The only issue: I was in charge of taking the grill home, and had to wait for it to cool off… so I didn’t leave after 10pm, and didn’t get to sleep until after 11.

Woke up to Pippin chewing on a bone – annoying, but not terrible. Thought I might get Pippin outside to pee before Dad let Ridley & Ender out, but we were just a bit too slow and he got the door open while we were still in the kitchen. Pippin promptly went up to Ender and peed a little, exactly what I was trying to avoid. Gah.

Did a nice little walk with everyone, and then Pippin and Champ and I continued on for a little longer. Back at the house, did some training while and got ready for work before Adam & his dog Crash came. They were outside with Ridley and Ender while I did a little more with Pippin & Champ, then we joined outside. Dogs played. I noticed the time and said if we’re doing bagels, now or never, so we moved inside. 5 dogs was too many – lots of hype and Pippin was getting some corrections that I don’t think were deserved so I took him out of the situation. As I moved him Adam mentioned that Crash is pretty good about giving corrections to puppies (lives with fosters) – but my thought is, no need to leave Pippin in a situation where corrections are needed (or happen, needed or not).

Eventually when things calmed down I did let Pippin back into the fray, shortly after got his food ready and him into the pen as we all left.

Drive was easy – 35 minutes or less, which was good because I was leaving late. Made it just after 8:30 to my desk. Had a great day at work! New project I’m taking on is quite fun so far.

Post work, got home after 6:00. Found the wire cutters I was looking for, but they really did not work. Definitely need something better. So took the dogs out without activity plans. Not a great walk – Pippin disappeared and ignored me for a bit, even when he came back was still clearly ignoring me. Excuse me Pip, rude. We finally figured that out a little and headed back inside. Put out the mats I’d ordered (first of the various rugs I ordered to arrive!), and tested out the nail grinder on Champ’s nails. He is totally fine with it, but I still kept it short just in case. A little a day, we think.

Surprise phone call from the Can Am UTV guy at 7:00pm, had a good talk though. He’s putting up a strong front that makes me think he won’t come down much in price, we’ll see… Then Hannah, Brian, and I finally got together and talked finances + farm maintenance amounts vs rent + sheep. Based on how my body got cold and a bit stiff it was a bit stressful for me, even though it was not a particularly stressful appearing conversation. Nerves, they pop up sometimes! Dogs were hanging out.

Late to Herding Book Club – great attendance! We actually talked about chapter 23 (Bite) finally, and Sue’s ducks, and various other fun little tangents. I was not as in tune as I usually am, guess a bit tired.

Some end of night training, logged it in the book, and writing this… now off to bed!

Great morning walk. We didn’t go the typical direction, but people stayed with me for most of it. Briefly lost Pippin in the main pastures, but less than a minute before he came. I also switched up the morning order – after the walk we went in and did some training, and then did abs afterward.

Got into work 8:15, had a great day. Brief tired spell around noon, but I got up and had a non-work conversation for a few minutes, and it mostly got me through. Got my latest project, and it is very interesting.

Home around 6, didn’t do a full walk – rainy + want to give them some rest (ha! They just make up for it with play). We still went outside and wandered, just closer to the house – and some in the pass through garage, so it was dryer. I need to stop asking for “drop it” with Pippin unless I’m certain or explicitly have it setup so he’s likely to drop the toy – non-ideal training otherwise!

Did some training, some dancing (Wednesday Dance Day! I’d forgotten, but it happened anyway). Not much “productive” around the house, but good dog time. Also Dad is coming tonight with his two dogs, so that will be… exciting. 5 minutes! More importantly, he’s trying to set me up with a guy again, and while he did not invite him tonight, he did invite him to come “see Ridley” (who the guy delivered to my Dad from the rescue) in the morning… 6:30-7am. But somehow seeing Ridley requires me to keep my morning schedule flexible. I’ve repeatedly told him not to set me up with people.

Written much later - Dad came, Pippin was still cowed by Ender. Ridley & Ender got in a big (no inuries) fight, apparently their biggest ever, and Pippin was stuck on the other side, but didn't join, and I managed to get him around and up behind a barrier to make sure it stayed that way.

Woke up at 11:30pm last night to Pippin howling. Not great. I didn’t quite get him in the pen, and tired brain decided to give him a second chance – which worked out, no further howling. Woke up about 5:30, he was chewing on his wood chew – not that loud, I was probably going to wake up anyway.

Off on our morning walk! I actually ran (slowly) this time. 1.5-2 miles, most likely. Used the newly cut (not by me, but beautiful!) paths. Everyone was staying pretty close until… On the creek side, a deer popped up less than 20 feet away! Pippin went chasing, but couldn’t get through and came running towards me – I almost grabbed him, but just slowed him down… enough that he started taking my “This Way!” cues. He was on hype and I had to use a lot of cues as he went bolting past every time, but we made it out of the woods and back towards the pastures without him ignoring me once. Brilliant! I did have the clicker with me, trying to bring it every hike so I can click/acknowledge when Pippin checks in with me or is running towards me.

Abs for me, a tiny bit of soccer but mostly sniffing. Then training – we did lie downs with Pippin, upstairs, mild distance. Pretty good, not as stellar as the night before but quick – using treats, not toys. Champ I took outside and we did a GREAT round of directionals + stands. Got some mid-directional stands in with a treat target he stopped prior to. Very happy Faith.

Got ready and off to work. First half of the day, pretty awake – but post lunch, started getting very tired. I ate a lot more snacks than necessary, using it as a way to stay awake. Finally caught up with Chelsea as well. Talked with the vet and Simparica order went through for Pippin (tick/flea). Talked with a UTV place in West Chester for less then 10 minutes, pretty similar to Blackman’s Cycle in Allentown – it will be ~$14-$15k if I want a new UTV, so expensive.

Home about 6pm, pretty easy drive. I played on my phone a bunch though, and got inside at 6:30. We went on a very nice walk, which ended with craziness. Pippin makes a sound and goes off into the tree field. Champ follows, but is still in sight and barking at a bushy area – Pippin is not involved in that, further along. Champ flushes out a beautiful yellow/red fox, who comes bolting right by me. Champ follows it, but is able to come off it eventually, and is on his way back when I see multiple deer coming from where Pippin was. Champ is able to stay with me (good job bud!), but Pippin is gone, ignoring anything I’m saying – follows them across the entire 9 acre field to the far corner and the street – then I see him turn right before the street, where we normally call him back on chiller walks. I think the boundary worked! Not 100%, there are bushes so it is hard to see, but he comes bolting sideways along the hill. Still not paying attention, but kind of hearing me. Lots of sprinting but turning a little on “This Way”. Eventually settles down and we make it inside. Whoa!

I get lazy again on my phone, but not for too long. Then some outdoor lie down training with Pippin – decent, not as good as yesterday, but not bad – and I stop early enough we don’t lose it. Pippin in for dinner, Champ out for directionals – first few were great, but then I upped the intensity by putting a treat down and asking him to go the other way around the circle to get to it. Very hard – lots more barking than the nearly silent morning. He did get it a few times, and we settled back into easier stuff.

Phone lazing, finished the last 1.5 chapter in Positive Herding 101, wrote this, filling in my dog training… 9pm already. We’ll probably do one more training time/play with Pippin, and head to bed.

Most photos actually from 5/26! A day I didn't record, but know I went into the city for a stint.

Started at Raspberry Ridge Sheep Farm, for context.

Sleep was okay – Pippin was very easy, in his travel crate all night. Champ was also good, but he did wake me up twice panting, and I delivered water for him. Not quite enough sleep, maybe 6.5 hours. Van life!

Pretty lazy morning, around 7am Rob was out with Cole and Rio, and after checking in I sent Pippin out to go play. When Rob was trying to get Cole inside, Pippin did a great recall off him! Then a whole other mass of dogs came out, and lots of good play. Turns out – not much time for pooping, later in the morning the poor stuck-inside puppy decided to bathroom indoors while I was herding with Champ – whoops.

Champ and I got some good morning herding, minor moving of sheep around in the back and then some outrun/stopping practice (stopping without a lie down is hard! & lie down with arthritis is hard). We did a few sessions with sheep in the back over the day – all pretty similar, and I think overall improving. Champ and I also adventured up to help demo with geese for the first time! He did pretty well – A course is a little small for the geese, but we tried running them through. At first he was just looking for sheep, but once he was on the geese I couldn’t get any stop. Very fun!

Pippin we did 3 sessions with. First was pretty good for 4 minutes, and then turned into continuous circles – I was able to switch his direction, but Pippin stopped coming in at the right point. Too long a session.  The last one we did in the big arena. A very beautiful, nice paced 2.5 minutes! Then we took a few minutes break, and went back in… and it was quite hectic as he got tired. Sierra took Jack in after us, and Jack had BEAUTIFUL lie downs. Pippin and I need to work on that!

Lunch we grilled leftovers, delicious. Dinner Bonnie and Linhan had left, but Sara & Sierra came out to dinner with me – then homeward and bedward!

I wrote nothing for this originally. But I have some pictures.

May 18th - post wedding recovery day. Brunch, naps, and eventually got out and went to the Field Museum. Then we walked a bit.

May 19th - started the day with donuts from Firecakes. Very good! I had a rhubarb more bread-y type one, delicious. A co-worker also commented on it. Worked in the Chicago office for the day, then left a little early to catch a flight home to Philly. Dogs were waiting at home, thanks Adam for taking care of them!

May 20th - an uneventful day at work with no photos.

May 21st - Wednesday dance day! Try to dance or otherwise have some plain old fun with the dogs. Got some good hiking pictures.

May 22nd - Herding book club and lots of inside play time.

May 23rd - Run run run! Dance! Have good times outside!

May 24th - Went to Raspberry Ridge for some herding, stopped at a Power Sports store on the way to check out UTVs on the way. Did not buy anything. Had a great field hike with other pups. We then 

Kind of slept in? I woke up at 4:30am Central, aka my normal wakeup time… but managed to go in and out of sleep a bit through 7:00. Not ideal, but could have been worse.

Many of our friends were still asleep or had already eaten breakfast, so Aimee and I hit a breakfast place. From there, went straight to the Lincoln Park Zoo – in search of red pandas! I also had contacted Ari, and he was going to come meet us. Note, zoo: free! Parking – street (good luck!) or $35 for zoo parking. We ended up in zoo parking.

Excellent for a middle of the city free zoo! Didn’t see any lions take one. Did see gorillas and chimps. Ari met us as we were talking to a zoo keeper type person, who was naming the gorillas for us. From there, a lovely time! Ari got us to the red pandas – not moving, but cute. The snow leopards were awesome – their tails are so long! Found some poisonous snakes, and were totally surprised by a wild dog – we weren’t even looking for animals at that point. Changed course to the free conservatory – also neat, fairly small. Has a fern room.

We got a res at RJ Grunts for 12:45, but had some time to kill and hit the farmers market (I purchased meat sticks for the dogs, and an apple honey currant pie). Not a huge market, but we were also late.

RJ Grunts I was very pleased with. A little loud – very busy – but good service, and the wrap Aimee and I split was excellent. Also they pre-split it for us, even the chips that it came with. Post wrap, walked back with Ari and said goodbye, then back to the hotel to prep for Cora’s wedding!

Also – to take a nap. Plenty of time… Turns out, the dress I had packed for Friday night – someone wore the exact same one to the wedding. Stich Fix, pretty sure. Going to the ceremony location the fresh turf right as you got on the grass absorbed any shoe heels, so… walk on your toes! I left my phone in the bag for the night.

Ceremony – very nice, they did a cool sand pouring thing. It blew over a few times during the ceremony (pre-sand) and once post sand – but it had a top so nothing spilled. Cocktail hour the sorority crew talked – dinner we got split tables, so met some new people (mostly from Collin’s frat and college). Also met some of Collin’s cousins. All the toasts were good – not too long and a good mix of humor and serious. Dinner the steak was varying levels of cooked (mine sadly close to well done), but the potatoes were good – and I “stole” some chicken fingers off a child. Promise she was done eating.

Dancing was fun, got some group photos, was able to talk with Cora (albeit briefly), and a huge add – they planned pizza later in the evening at the wedding! What a great plan!

We did not go to an after party – 11pm last bus I was pretty wiped, straight to bed instead.

I could not sleep in… despite tiredness and no dogs. Didn’t sleep well (allergies) plus I woke up about 5:15, why??? I did take advantage – showered (long, shaved in prep for dress wearing), packed, and got out the door by 6:30. I was at the office just after 7am, good job Faith! Especially because the flight I thought was at 5 – actually at 4:12, so I was going to need to leave work early.

I also ordered all the extra supplements I’ve heard about helping older dogs – Myos, turmeric chews, omega oil (don’t think this is relevant to muscles/arthritis, Adam messaged he liked the fish oil on his food, so doesn’t hurt). See what we can do for Champ’s rear end. I really need to get 2 or 3 regular strength workouts in for him a week. As I write, thinking two. More achievable for both us to start, and if it is going well, we can reconsider. Wednesdays and Saturdays perhaps.

Work was very productive – until I crashed from exhaustion. Around noon. Then it was much less productive. I ended up leaving just after 2pm – pretty sure my flight was going to be delayed, because the incoming flight was departing late. Parked in the economy lot (much harder to find a spot this time), and caught the shuttle to the airport. Flight was delayed until 4:53. I would have the original flight time by ~10 minutes though!

Here starts the sad evening of Faith. We boarded on time. We got out to start taxiing. Then – 5:30pm – we stopped moving. Apparently, there was a ground halt due to the various storms and arriving traffic. This continued for a lengthy time, until we finally got hope! 7pm, a route change was going to let us take off. Everyone to their seats asap! Maybe I’ll make it for part of the 8pm-9:30pm Central Time happy hour! We started moving, and soon… stopped. 10 minutes. 15 minutes… 7:25, the captain announces we hit another ground stop. No flights taking off. They were going to wait 10 minutes and then if nothing changed we were heading back to the gate to deplane, because we were coming up on the 3 hour tarmac time limit.

10 minutes… 20 minutes… finally, captain announces we’re moving (just that, no lucky lets fly). Everyone gets ready and we still don’t even head back to the gate for 15 minutes. I’m looking up flights for the morning to Chicago – literally nothing. One $2000 American flight that is already 2 hours delayed and will get in around 3:30pm, wedding an hour away and at 5pm. One Southwest flight might have a seat, not direct, only $500, but again 3:30pm. Ugh.

Finally head back to the gate just as rain starts, and deplane. They say “stick around for announcements”, I quickly snag a bag of chips (they looked good when the person next to me was eating them), and missed the announcement. Asked around, basically: crew was running out of their time, no updates yet, Frontier was offering full refunds or reschedules if you wanted (next direct to Chicago was Monday). But emphasis – flight still officially delayed! Hang around the gate in case the status changes!

We did get $15 vouchers. I got an okay sweet and sour chicken because… the lines at Subway and Chick-Fil-A were long and this place had no line. Lots of unhappy delayed people in the airport. About 9:10, the lady made an announcement – they were looking for a new crew. If a new crew was found, they would try flying out tonight. If not, the flight would be delayed until morning. Yes!!! That means I can make it to the wedding (obviously missed the happy hour though). She also announced that she had to go somewhere else, but promised to be back.

I had a brief conversation with the lady sharing the phone charging station with me, and noted that what I really wanted to do was get my abs in. She was in total agreement, had also missed the gym that day. I was not wanting to be on the floor – but then I realized there was a clean area behind the lockers behind the desk, and went for it! Got my abs in, and then feeling motivated kept going with lunges and squats and deadlifts. Pretty sure many people were a bit jealous – and at least 3 did some very minor lunges/stretching. I started a trend! During the workout, we also got a crew! Soon after started boarding. I had an extra seat next to me, because some people had taken the refunds and gone – it got filled by my other neighbor’s daughter, but more extra seats behind so I moved to have space. Also – the old crew (who’s time had expired) boarded last minute, because they were based in Chicago and didn’t want two empty days in Philly.

We had a big outside morning, I did abs while the dogs mostly sniffed. Inside we did training – after Pippin was in his pen, Champ and I were working (easy stuff, no up/down related movements) and his rear end slid out and collapsed on the slippery kitchen floor. It was pretty heartbreaking, he couldn’t get back up and basically dragged himself onto the bed. I got an anti-inflammatory for him before leaving.

I had lots on my evening to-do list (pack, prep for Adam picking up dogs, pick a dress, …) plus herding book club. Work-ed on backtests, then left on time. Would have been home before 6 if I hadn’t missed the exit. I used the opportunity to go to Tractor Supply and pickup extra dog food (needed) + dewormer (maybe needed). Why did I miss the exit? Because I was on the phone with a third vet office, trying to find some place that would test a dog fecal sample without doing a full wellness exam. No one is willing – I just want to pay for a simple test! My vet for Pippin said that because it was more than 3 weeks after the exam, I’d have to come in to get the test done. Please tell me – why in the world do I need a full exam to check if there are worms in the poop. Very annoying.

Anyway. The dogs were lovely. We went outside and I non-productively spent lots of time with them, and was prepping dinner when Adam arrived to pick them up about 7:10. Got everything ready, hung out a bit, and he was about to leave when the girls came by – I had mentioned to Brian that I had money for the older one, hence the “late” (for them) visit. We got some treats out and played more with Pippin and Champ. Then the kids went on their way, and we tried loading up the dogs into Adam’s car. Champ – easy. Pippin – hard. We had him in the crate the first time, but didn’t close it quickly enough. After that, he put up a struggle. We tried luring and putting the crate on the ground (with food in it), but no go. Hindsight– possible he just had to poop, because… he did poop in the crate on the ride. Oh well.

Then I lazed for a bit before herding book club, slacking on reading the book. We ended up with a pretty good crew – Sue, Bonnie, Carolyn, me. I meant to do productive things during it, but I was tired and did not. Closed up around 10, and then I did get productive – kind of. Cleaned the kitchen. Decided on dressed to bring, made a packing list & morning activity list that was feasible. I ended up in bed about 10:45, not too bad for needing to be up early.

Another tired day, but not as much as Tuesday. Allergies are still in effect. Morning started with the usual outdoor times and training. Got out pretty early, and into the office about 8am. Don’t recall anything crazy for Wednesday Workday. Post work, I stopped in at DSW – needed new shoes for an upcoming (4 days away!) wedding. I found two pairs as options. The no-heel sandals got axed because the material on top of my foot was itchy and uncomfortable after just a minute. Liked the look though! The small heels won – classic look will work with most things, and other than not wearing heels much pretty comfortable.

Got home about 6:30, and my to-do list was short – and included dancing with the dogs 😊. We got outside and had a grand old time. I did some photo shoots, we played around. Came back in and they got dinner, then we did a lot of just chill hanging/photo shoots while I had a lovely conversation with Tina. I could have gone to bed early, but instead I caught up a little on my writing. Still asleep at a decent hour.

We got a good morning in before real rain hit. I kept the walk shorter, trying to give Pippin rest – even though he wasn’t limping, I was suspicious. Abs I did inside – throwing Champ the little sheep toy. Also some training – not for class, that ended, but just general life. I need to work on Pippin’s lie downs, distance + speed. Maybe also holding them longer. But only one at a time.

Champ I’m working on him ignoring me when I say “Pippin Lie Down”, because Champ lying down is unnecessary at his age. Stay standing bud!

Got to work, a little tired but pretty productive. Dog walker came and Pippin also was not showing signs of limping at lunch, good.

Got home a little after 6, and was… very tired. I tried cleaning out the dryer, but gave up – sponge was not going to be enough. Brian came over and finished the job (with the steel wool I got out, apparently the necessary component). As of 5/16, still haven’t used it – obviously need a sacrificial first load, and I did not have the mental energy for that Tuesday.

Pippin and Champ and I did a couple little walks, and eventually I left for frisbee – despite the rain. Last night of the league, and my email asking if the 7v7 combo of teams in 3rd-6th place would be happening at the bar instead of the fields was shortly followed by a “we’re playing in the rain!”. Guess what: the finals happened in the rain, the 7v7 did not. Eventually/9:15 we got to the bar (left watching the game), and hung out and talked for a bit. Fun though I was still wiped.

I left right after 10pm… Let the dogs out – they said ehhh, rain – did a little two dog training – and went to bed.

No photos taken today!

We did our morning walk, abs, and another training session, before leaving ~7:20 to drop the pups off at a sitter. Traffic was good, I arrived right on time… but she came down 15 minutes late/was in the bathroom and didn’t see my messages. Should have texted earlier with my initial ETA… Made it to work on time though.

Good day at work, felt more awake.

Post work. Picked up the pups, and went to Edgely. Women matching spring finals here we come! First, however, got a last video in for Pippin’s class – had to submit by 7pm. There were lots of distractions (including Champ, lawnmower, etc) – but he did pretty well waiting for me to tell him he could go get the treat in the bowl. Patience, young Pippin has… sometimes.

Helped setup the food and drinks, and then game time! Moved the field to some freshly cut grass. Our 10th player was stuck doing a surgery (doctors), so we only had 9 for the evening – and we played great. Lots of good defense. Pretty good offense. They got some points on us throwing a zone. But we just had such good communication, switches, and general intensity. Game ended 15-6, three in row winning women matching!

The only downer was Pippin must have hurt himself on the line, probably got it under his leg and then sprinted to get something and got caught. He limped the rest of the evening (but seemed okay the next day, don’t worry like I did).

Post game was also fun – drinks, pizza, hummus and carrots… Got our Champions discs, and hung out for a while. Eventually headed home, getting back a little after 10. Bed a little later than desired.

WE WON 😊.

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!