Changes

It has been a really long time since I've posted, and much has happened in that time.  Shortly after my last post, the Queen of our family, Hershey, was diagnosed with cancer.  We lost her in January of 2012.  We sold our house, and moved into a new house.  During that time, we also lost our other girl, Kyra to Hemangioscarcoma.  The good news, is that we have a beautiful new home, Hemi got his MACH and went to the AKC Nationals and I also got my next agility star, a miniature poodle named Mingo.  I have much to be posted on all of the above.  The first post will be a tribute to our dear Queen.

I am also in deep in the process of trying to write my first novel.  Working title is "Innocence by Guilt."  33,000 words and counting.

I hope to get on a more consistent schedule of blogging again.

Nationals! Another first for the Downing poodles

Gene and Hemi qualified for AKC Nationals this year.  What a whirlwind!  Once Hemi figured out the teeter and dogwalk, he has become one of the most consistent dogs!  He doesn't just Q, but he has awesome speed as well!

It was a stressful situation for Gene and Hemi, but the two of them worked together, and came up with 2 qualifying runs, and had an AWESOME finish for their first ever Nationals appearance.

Look out, Pennsylvania!  This poodle will be back in 2014!

MACH Tintlet Grab Life By The Horns

Yes, that is correct, Hemi received his MACH at the Lone Star Poodle Club!  We are so proud of him and Gene.  With Hemi's issues with teeters and dogwalks, there were times we thought we would never see the day.  But, Hemi was able to work through it, and look at him now!  Love my boys!

Hemi Gambles~

And gets a hard one! Way to go Hemi! (Notice the outstanding teeter performance, too!)

Z is for....

ZOOMANIAC- Though, had I followed my original plan of study, I would currently be a ZOOLOGIST, off studying penguins in the Antarctic, or bengal tigers in Africa. However, after taking my first zoology class under the MOST boring and annoying professor on the planet, I quickly realized that I would never last another 15 required classes under this same professor- so I switched my major. (No, don't ask, you don't want to know. In fact, when I told my parents, I think they cried a little.) But, just because I chose a different path for my life doesn't meant that I lost my love of animals- well, except for domestic cats and spiders.

Y is for.....

YOUTHFUL. "You are only as old as you feel" as the saying goes. I choose to only be as old the girl in this picture. I also choose to be as skinny, tanned, and energetic as that girl, too.

Do you think it will work? (Nah, me, either. It was worth a try, though)

X is for....

X-RAY CODER. Yes, I know, it's really Radiology (or, in my case, Interventional Radiology), but the X was so hard anyway, and this way I didn't have to *cheat* by shortening a word like "xtra". I have been coding radiology reports for most of my adult life. I enjoy the work. The job? Well, let's move on to Y, shall we?