Chunk By Chunk

My grandfather said that a few years ago he started falling apart piece by piece. Now is he falling apart chunk by chunk.

So it seems with Abby.

Abby has been weird lately when it comes to agility. She was refusing her favorite obstacles and has been even slower than normal. Despite my belief that she was just being Abby, it turns out that there are some (more) things wrong with her. On top of her seizures, and her kidney issues, we now have heart murmur, arthritis, and degenerative disc disease to add to the list. I never believed that Abby would be a long-lived dog, but I didn't think that she would fall apart this young either.

When I first saw those X-rays a part of me was relieved. All this recent behavior is not mental. But once I made that realization, my heart sank. It isn't mental, it's physical. This won't get better. We can't train through this. This is permanent. We can no longer do agility.

I never thought that Abby would win titles, but I hoped that we would be able to train and trial and have a ton of fun for years before we retired. But we have to stop now. And it really depresses me. We have spent a whole year doing this. Countless hours training, countless $$ spent, countless hours driving. . . and we don't really have anything to show for it.

Ok, I know that's not entirely true. We learned a lot and Abby has a ton of confidence (a ton considering where she started) but right now I just want to be sad that we have to give up something that we both loved doing.

Father's Day with My Old Man

I've always called Mole my old man - even before he was old. . . He just has an old soul. And now that he really is old, we can't do the things that we used to do together. It's sad, and I miss his company on those outings. Lately it's been Abby and I going here, there, and everywhere, and I know that he really wishes that he could go with us. Sometimes he does, but mostly he can't.

Today, I decided to spend some quality time with my old man. I was trying to figure out what to do because we can't really walk too far. He doesn't really like to sit and do nothing for extended periods of time either. Abby had class later, so we couldn't really do anything too time consuming. I decided that we would go and have breakfast. It sounds kinda silly when I say it like that, but we both had a really great time.

I looked on Yelp for some breakfast places that had outdoor seating and came across the Blackberry Bistro. It was close, had good reviews, was in a neighborhood that I knew, so off we went. I was careful to pick a parking space close, but not too close so that we could get in a tiny walk (two blocks). We had a 10 minute wait, but that was better than I was expecting at 11am on Father's day. I thought our table was fine, but Mole thought he hit the mother-load! There must have been kids sitting at our table before because there were cheerios all over the ground. He had a blast cleaning up. I choose to wait and eat the food that was brought to me on a plate - eggs, potatoes, cheese roll, and. . . bacon!



Guess who ate the bacon:


He was such a good boy the entire time. He is actually the perfect eating companion because he doesn't want to be on my lap, and he is happy eating whatever I hand him. We both had a really good time and I am planning on doing this more often.

Building Drive

Abby has been SUPER pokey during agility training. I have no idea what is going on, and because it's Abby, it could be nothing, or it could be everything. And since she still seems to want to do obedience and go out for runs, I am assuming that she is physically fine. She just has no drive for agility right now. . .

As much as I love Abby and as fun as she can be to work at times, she can also be as equally frustrating. Part of the frustration comes because she seems to be fine one week, then is completely off the next. That is part of the reason we are keeping the journal - to hopefully figure out what I'm missing. Right now, she has no drive, but is still completing the courses. Its very strange.

I'm trying to do some research and I am asking everyone I can think of to ask. . . but as of tonight, I have no answers, just frustration. I'm being very careful not to let on how I feel, and am throwing big parties whenever she does anything. . . but it hasn't helped.

Despite my frustrations, I still really enjoy working with Abby and I think that she really enjoys working with me. We have formed a true team in the past few months and it has really strengthened our bond. And I know that once we figure this whole thing out that we will be that much better together. . . And I know that I will have that many more tips and tricks in working with other dogs. . . but right now, I just wish that we could go out there and run a course like we used to when we first started.

Panzanella Salad

My summer goal this year is to cook one new dish a week. Last week I made a really awesome home-made polenta dish with sauteed mushrooms and spinach. I wish that I took pictures because it was an awesome dish. . .

This week: Panzanella Salad (bread salad)

The ingredients are simple and can change a bit from person to person depending on what they like to eat. Mine consisted of cucumbers, tomatoes, red onions, blue cheese, mix green lettuce and bread. The dressing is a simple olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette. The bread is supposed to be day-old, but I didn't plan that far ahead, so I just baked mine a bit longer. I also added the blue cheese and the cherry tomatoes to the bread in the oven.



The food was delicious. The wine I chose to go with it. . .bleh. ..

I chose an Old Vine Zin made by a vintner I'd never heard of before - Haraszth. Its from Lodi and is a 2008. I tried to get some information about this wine/vintner, but I didn't find a whole lot of info. . . The wine itself has no real flavor. Part of it might be due to my allergies and not being able to smell properly, but I don't think that is all of it. The one good thing I can say about that wine was that it didn't detract anything from my meal. . .

The Reading Chair

I made the long weekend extra long and spent some time visiting relatives on the east coast. Unfortunately I did not have as good a time as I hoped because I spent most of it in the hospital visiting my grandfather. Since only so many people are allowed at one time, I spent a good portion of my vacation reading a book in tiny, uncomfortable hospital chairs. The entire time I was day dreaming about my old reading chair and vowed to figure out a way to get it back into my life!

Skip ahead a week, lots of pushing, shoving, door removing, and voila! Reading chair parked comfortably (albeit tightly) into my room. I was looking forward to reading in it when all of a sudden, Mole remembered how comfortable the reading chair was and hopped in.


After some time, Abby decided that she wanted to try the reading chair


Then, before I knew it, pocket joined the group


And as you can see, there was no room left for me. . . I was left reading on the floor with Eddie. . . But it was as great book, so I didn't complain too much. If you have never read Water for Elephants - READ IT. It is a great, and easy read. . . and with days like I've had lately, an easy read is necessary!