The Great Essay Caper

One night in November I finished writing an essay.


The essay was due at 10 am the next morning. Considering the late hour, and that the next day began my Thanksgiving break, I knew that once I went to sleep I was not going to want to get up to turn it in. However, Goldwin Smith is usually open, so Queezle and I decided to make an adventure of it.


We made our way up to the Arts Quad, which we had to ourselves.


Like any good tourist, Queezle (or at least a werewolf that looks like Queezle) posed with Ezra.


Then we followed the footsteps of the founders...


...and posed with AD White.


Into the building we went, and up to the English Lounge.


At this point I realized a small error in my planning. The English Department mailroom is locked up around 4 pm, after which you can still stick stuff through the slot in the door but it must have the name of the person it is intended for on it. I had not included my professor's name on the essay, and was without writing utensils. So Queezle and I began combing the building, poking through any unlocked cabinets and inspecting bulletin boards. We were very excited to find some unattended pizza boxes, but sadly they were empty (yes, I checked).


We finally struck gold in the basement, where we found a dry erase board and corresponding marker. My essay appropriately labeled, we climbed back up to the second floor and turned it in (note: I did not draw the muscle man).


Then we continued our tourist activities by posing at the Temple of Zeus.


At last it was time to head home.


Mission accomplished!

Merry Christmas! (and a lot of catching up)

This past semester was rough - guess the honeymoon period is over! However, I did manage to make it through somewhat gracefully. Here's what the Q and I have been up to!

We washed dishes:

We investigated an old cemetery:

Queezle got her beauty rest:

My hibiscus bloomed for Homecoming weekend:

Tia came for a visit:

Queezle nixed Halloween costume 1:

And decided version 2 was much better:

I drank a lot of caffeine:

And we did some good ol' arts and crafts (it's supposed to be a crysknife from Dune):

Then as soon as finals were over we went out to Cleveland, OH for the big dog show circuit, where Queezle finished her Grand Championship!
Merry Christmas!

Dumbbell Games

Now that we finally have a dumbbell with us (give me a break here - I was packing a lot of stuff!), Queezle and I are back to working on take/hold. She has the general idea of the retrieve, and will take the dumbbell in her mouth for a split second. Right now I'm trying to expand on that.

Today I realized an easy way for us to practice the retrieve during our daily routine. When I'm trying to read/study, Queezle will inevitably bring out her rubber peppermint toy and drop it on my book. Sooner or later when I throw it for her she knocks it under the couch. It's usually only a few inches under - she could easily reach it but instead of using her paws productively she flails around making a huge din and accomplishing nothing. Then of course she expects me to get the peppermint out for her. So now the deal is - you want the peppermint? Bring me the dumbbell. When she makes her peevish two-year-old noise, I slide the dumbbell a little way across the room, and then she's expected to bring it to me. She figured it out right off, and while she gives me a long-suffering look, she retrieves it! Then I fish out the peppermint and we go back to that game.

Ithaca is Gorges

Stereotypical though it may be, Ithaca really is gorges (and gorgeous!). After a week of walking Queezle in a grassy area around the corner from our apartment, it occurred to me that I didn't know what was up the driveway we usually stopped at. There was no house or anything, just a small parking area, and voila! A little park, complete with gorge access.

The park is absolutely wonderful - packed paths leading through a few trees and along the cliff, plus a wide rocky "beach" alongside Fall Creek. Following the cliffs back, there's a beautiful waterfall with a nice area for swimming.


I loved going down into the gorge to read last year, so this is the perfect study spot! Queezle and I are particularly fond of a little hollow surrounded by trees and bushes along the water's edge.


Although Queezle isn't quite sure if swimming is a good idea - You want me to WHAT? - she is willing to wade and splash around after me. I keep waiting for her to notice the crayfish!

Back on the hill!

The girls and I have had a very busy past couple weeks. First, at the August agility trials in Cato, NY we had three qualifying runs. Tia earned her 8th and 9th MJP legs (only one more to go!), and Queezle earned her first XF leg! Flash was wild as ever and had a grand time, but didn't qualify at all.

After doing two days of agility, we headed to the Tioga Kennel Club shows for the weekend. On Saturday, Flash got a Veteran Herding Group 3! Queezle went Best of Breed both days over a very large and nice Terv entry, which gave her two 5 point majors toward her Grand Champion! We didn't get any Group placements, but getting all those GRCH points more than made up for that. She is now up to 12 points and 2 majors out of the required 25 points and 3 majors. We won't be doing any more breed shows for a while though because she is blowing coat like no tomorrow - I feel like I fill my trashcan with hair every day!

Moving into the apartment has gone very smoothly, and Queezle is adjusting quite well. As you can see from the photo, she is hardly stressed.


Queezle tagged along for the marching band's second annual scavenger hunt, and also came to the welcome back picnic, so she has met a LOT of new people over the past week. Sometimes I can tell she is irritated with me sitting around reading and writing, but I do think she is happy to be here with me. Although we don't have air conditioning, she has been lounging in front of a big fan almost 24/7. Talk about the dog days of summer.

So Much for Love

Queezle and I are chilling near Albany for the Ballston Spa shows. So far we have gone Best of Breed both days with no competition, and haven't gotten anything in the Group. Tonight I had fed her in the car and got myself a salad and smoothie from McDonald's.

When we got to the hotel I realized I have a lot of stuff to lug up to the room. No problem - I'll just combine bags and balance stuff carefully and we'll be ok. Got everything up the stairs and through our temperamental door and settled down to dine. I like to save some of the chicken for last, so I put aside a few pieces as well as the tomatoes which I was not going to eat. Fork in hand, I realize that between the cooler, Target bag, McDonald's bag, purse and dog, I had forgotten the smoothie in the car. Rats. I carefully balance the salad on the coat rack thing out of Queezle's reach and head back out to the car.

I had forgotten one thing - the lid housing the chicken and tomatoes, which was sitting on the nightstand. When I returned a minute or so later, the chicken had mysteriously disappeared and Queezle had her most innocent face on. Did she eat the tomatoes? Of course not.

Recent Shows

Since Queezle didn't have her litter after all, we have been going to shows the past few weekends. Queezle is thrilled to finally be back on the road, and the other girls have gotten to do some agility too.

Queezle showed one day in breed in Stormville, NY and got Best of Breed and a Group III.

In Bloomsburg, PA, Queezle went Best of Breed all three days and got a Group IV on Saturday. The photo is from Friday.

This past weekend we did four days of agility trials in Brewerton, NY. Flash was the star of the weekend out of my three dogs, earning her second Excellent FAST leg with a 1st place! Because she is almost 13, I tried to challenge her jump height so she could jump 4" in preferred. Naturally my little beast hasn't shrunk the quarter of an inch she needed! It would have been nice for her to jump lower, but we can deal. She had a bunch of really nice Jumpers runs but with bars down - here is one of them.


Tia wasn't running quite as well as she did back in June, though we did have some nice runs. In Standard on Sunday she just had one bar down that I hadn't even noticed! She is starting to do that funny cough/gag thing again. We are thinking it may be a bronchitis sort of thing caused by either the humidity or a pollen that is coming out now. Tia says that steak at every meal would fix everything!

Queezle is running wonderfully, except for being a brat at the weave poles. Working at home she gives me no trouble, but when I send her to the weaves at a trial she runs at me barking obnoxiously. I have started removing her from the course when she does that. It kills me because she is doing a really beautiful job even on difficult courses and is so fun to run, but if I get it through her head now that being a brat means the fun stops, she will be better about the weaves in the long run. I am also going to keep working her on really hard entries and doing weaves with lots of distractions at home - my thought process there is that if I can have her 100% confident that she can do the weaves correctly no matter what, doing them at a trial will be easy and not worth putting up a fuss. We are also taking a class with Tracy Sklenar to help with her contact issues (namely sailing over them with a gleefully wicked smile on her face).

Today we took the first load of my stuff down to the apartment in Ithaca. Only a few weeks left until school starts back up again