17 days of my life in a few photos and a video.

Life gets hectic, and that leaves less time to blog. I think, oh I should Blog about that! Or, oh what a great weekend! I should Blog about that! Or Oh, Kaleb is a JERK! I should blog about that. Anyway, you get the idea ... so here is a snapshot of the last 17 days ... hopefully the next blog will be sooner than that. And if not ... well see you in another 17 days :)

Here is a video from the best gamble we never got :)

It's tough being Gyp! She ran awesome 2 weeks ago at our last outdoor trial of the year. Now back to indoor trials!

so cute.

love this shot Aine Perrin took of her.

Then Kaleb tried to find the garbage. After 10.5 years, we finally figured out how to outsmart him. We now put the Garbage in the pantry when we leave so he can't get at the garbage. This is what we came home too .. open cupboards ... and a drawer. Smart boy. But I'm smarter.

Then Pleat looked handsome.

Then he looked cute.

This certificate makes me happy! Small fries, but hey, it's more than we ever thought we get too!

Gyppie on the job.

I have awesome friends who helped make our grass green :)

Then the dogs went swimming ... enjoying the last of the years' swimming weather.

Pleat cheered for Alta-Pete at the USBCHA FInals :)

Then Kaleb looked handsome.

See you soon, bloggerland!

joy drops ...

Finding joy in the little things ... Kaleb's smile, Pleat's never ending desire to be a lady's man, Gyppie's pointy nose and my new shoes that match my Knee brace :)

earth, wind and fire. :: 37/52

earth, wind and fire. :: 37/52, originally uploaded by sarah ....

Via Flickr:
remember, no matter how big we THINK we are. Mother Nature rules.

In one year our area has had 2 major grass fires causing evacuations in surrounding towns and neighbourhoods within the city. 100km winds + fire, is very scary. No lives were lost thankfully.

confidence ... it's a funny thing.

hello, i love you. :: 36/52, originally uploaded by sarah ....

Since Kaleb had his surgery, the first week, he had no walks - so it was just Gyp and I. The second and third week we have been getting back to normal, but I have been limiting K to 2km - 4km walks/jogging in the 'hood twice a day, and not off leash yet as I don't want him moving his back end so much and he likes to run in bushes and roll where he shouldn't and he need to keep his wound clean.

So what does all this mean?? OMG Gyp has to do her majority of walks/runs etc on her own. Not a biggie, right? 

Flash back 6 years ago to when I got her, she was so worried about everything - people (hard to believe I know), sounds (which is still an issue, but we deal and she is a zillion times better). Because Kaleb has NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER met a stranger, he was the best thing for her. He taught her more than I ever could. 

If Kaleb's cool about it, Gyp is cool about it. So these last few weeks Gyp has had to cope on her own without her sidekick on nearly every walk. Kaleb's bombproof nature towards noises and people have rubbed off on Gyp - in all of the good ways, but when he's not with her, she is far more skiddish and worried. I knew that he gave her confidence, I just never knew how much until he wasn't with us. In the coulees she is fine by her self running with me, at her Pet therapy visits, but even my feet shuffling behind her and a kid on a skateboard made her almost hit the ground. Whereas Kaleb doesn't even bat an eye at that. She doesn't react with barking type of fear, she freezes. It's funny because she has passed the confidence she DOES have to other dogs when she needs too - Tag was worried about people too, so Jolayne would often be seen walking then together, Gyp would run up to a person, Tag would follow, and realize it was cool. It really changed Tag's demeanor to have his Gyppie girl at his side.

It's amazing the things dogs can teach eachother, and they don't even have to read a book or attend a seminar to do it. I'm only talking about the good stuff of course ... we will talk about teaching the BAD stuff another time ;)

it was only a matter of time.

It had to happen eventually. 6 weeks into our new place and we thought perhaps the 10.5 year old dog was over his garbage picking ways. You see, for the past 8 years in our previous place we had a metal lock on the cupboard. Child lock you say? Ya those get chewed off. 

Oh Kaleb, we love you.

High fives!!

Results back: Benign Hystiocytoma!!!!

The aspirate was inconclusive and this type of round cell tumor is usually found on legs or ears so that is what made it more suspicious. At 10.5 we just can't take any chances. So we had it removed on Monday and hooray ....

Thank doG no cancer!!!