Mountain time vs Hawaiian time......

When I lived in Hawaii there was a standing joke ( and I assume its still standing ) about how things got done on Hawaiian time. Meaning if someone providing a service was scheduled to arrive at 9am you could pretty much add an hour or two to that scheduled time before actually expecting someone to show up.

I have come to find that Mountain time lags behind Hawaiian time by days and weeks, not hours. Who knew. We are still in the process of enclosing the area under the master bath, an area that was built on columns, allowing winter winds to blow through and making it impossible to heat (this is the same bathroom that the shower froze solid for a few weeks ) and very uncomfortable to use. The contractor who put up the walls to enclose it was very timely....here at the house by 7:30am and working till daylight waned. This was done before winter arrived last year and although ugly, it did wonders in keeping out the wind and we were able to use the shower and toilet without risking frostbite. Once spring arrived said contractor recommended a drywall company to stucco and finish the walls...okey-dokey.

Little did we know that the work ethic of the contractor was a rare and unusual thing. The drywall crew set up scaffolding, if thats what it can be called, that would give an OSHA inspector heart failure. Although they did cover the ground with plastic it appears to have served little purpose as there is so much spilled stucco on the ground I dont know if it can be cleaned up. And this scaffolding and plastic has been down there for weeks. They showed up today ( they have been saying they would be here " tomorrow" for days) and told John it would only take them a few hours this morning to put the finish coat on. Seriously?

In the meantime, the Village of Angel Fire officials noticed, at least 6 months after it started, that work was being done and decided to fine us for not asking nice and getting a permit. Apparently you cant do anything here without a permit and we didnt know this. It is my fault....I want a fence in the back so the mutts can go out unattended and ask at the Village offices about building one. Gotta have a permit. Got the permit and it was the same week some high and mighty Village official took the road less traveled ( that would be ours ), saw the scaffolding and plastic and sent a letter saying we were in deep kim-chee. A $500 permit and $300 fine. Sigh.

Here we are, in a place where elk and deer and bears roam freely, what some would consider wilderness, and we are controlled by bureaucrats. It's almost funny....we couldnt get the drywall guys up here to finish the stupid job quickly but the officials are johnny on the spot. Usually bureaucrats are slower than molasses but there is money involved and that tends to speed them up a bit. Almost funny but not quite.

I would never in a million years have believed Hawaiian time was quicker but its true....Mountain time is manana....maybe, if you are lucky.

He IS a purty boy!!!

We took Stryker to the dog show in Albuquerque and he did so well. John and Zack dragged his crate into the show hall and we kept him there for a little while. One of the Rottweiler club members who is a judge ( not in the Rot ring ) suggested we take him out of the crate and see how he did. No barking, no aggression ( although he was super interested in the English bulldogs and the Poodles - probably thought those lil balls on Poodles hind ends were chew toys of some sort ) but interest only. Very calm and very good. Both judges and handlers thought he was beautiful. One of the top handlers in the country has said he would take him, train him for the ring and show him.

I am conflicted. I dont want to send him away and I dont want him shown without being there. The handler goes to shows all over the country and it is tempting to just say yes. Stryker is only 14 months old...still a big baby but he looks like the adult dogs we saw, except, of course, better looking. Still mulling things over....

Just can't do it ...

What I posted yesterday still holds true...there will be no puppies. However, comma, it will not be Stryker going under the knife. Schatzi will, when she is old enough, be the one who is neutered. With her shy, retiring attitude I dont think she would make the best of mothers. Rotties shouldn't be agressive but they shouldnt be wussies either. I know she is very young ( not yet 5 months old ) and her attitude could change but at this point I do not see her as a Rot-mom ( and I still do NOT want to mid-wife a dozen+ pups )!!!

Tomorrow we are taking Stryker to Albuquerque for a meet and greet with the NM Rottweiler club members and some handlers to see if they think he is as gorgeous as I do ( Westminster Dog Show anyone ??? ). If he is show material I think I will be getting involved doing that. I have way too much time on my hands and need something more than chipmunk counting to occupy my days when John is gone.  We shall see....

Stryker may not know it but he is one lucky dog !!

No puppies!!!

I know for a fact that rotties have HUGE litters....10-12 is not at all unusual. I know how cute puppies are and I do love them but I am soooo not doing the midwife thing again. It was bad enough when my poms had big litters ( 5 is a big litter for them  ) and I was changing the birthing box papers 3 times a day, cleaning up the food they walked in, the water they spilled and the crap they spread through all of the above.

That being said, I still feel very guilty about doing what we are going to do to Stryker on Friday. Ok, we arent personally gonna be doing the chopping off of things but still....I feel bad. Mostly because he is the brightest, sweetest and most loving dog I have even owned. He would make an excellent stud and his pups would be gorgeous but I just can not allow it.

Part of that reasoning is Schatzi....as I mentioned before, she is sweet and has a beautiful face but as for brains....well, not so much. All the lights are on but we are pretty sure nobody is home. How a dog can have a blank look I do not know butt she does...huh???? Then there is the issue of trying to keep a 106lb dog from doing what comes naturally for the next year and a half. Right.

Surgery is Friday. Sigh. I know this is the right thing to do but I still feel awful about it.

It's a good thing she is cute

Bless her heart...she does have a sweet face. This is a good thing because sometimes I think the lights are on but nobody is home. Stryker, by comparison is an Einstein of the canine world. Is it possible for a Rottie to be blonde? If so, then Schatzi is one. Not just a blonde but a dumb one. Sweet but stupid. I know, I know...she is young, she will learn and it is just wrong to lable her as a dummy. However.....she still doesnt know her name ( of course I call her many things....Schnitzel, Saurkraut and Liverwurst among them, so maybe she is just confused ), goes potty whenever, whereever she pleases ( then runs like the dickens to the garage where she SHOULD go if she cant get outside ), has decided kleenex and toilet paper are tasty treats, loves carrying my shoes around - she doesnt eat them, just makes sure I can only ever find one shoe of any pair....

The list is long but she is undeniably sweet. Sigh. Why in the world did I think I needed another dog??? This I do know...there will be no baby Rotties from these two. Just the thought of a dozen puppies makes me shudder.

It's only money...

There came a time, several years ago, when we decided that instead of giving presents on Christmas and birthdays we would give cash. Ok...checks actually but not gifts, per se. And at that time it was a good thing to do. Some of the kids and grands lived so far away that postage on said gifts would have been as expensive as whatever we sent.

This has worked well...until now. We are coming to the end of active earning years and the grandkidlets just keep coming with no end in sight (11 and 12 are due this summer/fall). It makes me very sad to think that we won't be able to "give" the way we used to but the reality is that we can't. I guess what I fear is the resentment or anger that might be leveled at us since cash cow has been our role for so long. And this is my fault. Need something ? Call mom.

I dont know why I have enabled so many for so long. We certainly didnt depend on our parents to provide trips or gifts or clothes....they did give to our children but we were the primary providers. I feel like a miserable failure, something familiar to me as I have failed in spectacular fashion, repeatedly, as a parent.
And I dont know how to fix this....

Guess I could win a few hundred million in the lottery....too bad I dont gamble.

Has spring sprung ?

Nope.
I went to Oregon for two weeks to meet the newest grandkidlet, Jacob John Wyman. What a cutie!!! He is a little guy but strong and loud : )

I had hoped the weather there would be warmer than Angel Fire but ( rolling eyes ) they got snow. And its a "wet cold" so it feels colder than here at home even though the thermometer says otherwise.

The day I got home ( April 2nd ) I drove into a whiteout. Visibility down to a few feet and slip sliding all the way. Actually went off the road twice...grateful we left the sand bag in the back as I am sure it helped with what little traction the car had. All told we got 18-20 inches of the white stuff. Have I mentioned I am sick of snow? No? I AM SICK OF SNOW. It's not just the snow...its the ice when it partially melts and the muck when it finally does melt.

We did get the tulips and hydrangas into the ground just before the first frost and several of them have poked tenative leaves above the mulch. Then yesterday it snowed again...only 4 or 5 inches this time. Hoping they didn't freeze and die....sigh. I guess time will tell.

We dont really get "spring" as such.....we have mud season. The dogs dont mind ( either the mud or me ) but it gets tiring when there are 20 paws tracking the great outdoors inside: leaves, twigs and assorted things I cannot identify. I have never given the poms seriously short coats but this year they may look like Mexican Hairless when I am done with them. Guess I have to wait till the snow stops since I dont want Pom-cicles but once it warms up the shears are going to fly and so will the fur.