Wordless Wednesday

Blast from the past.

Revisiting our goals

Now that I'm in Excellent agility

http://screamingk9.blogspot.com/2011/08/were-sooo-excellent.html

it's time I looked back at the goals we've set for my agility career.

First my goals:

Eat more - nope, not happening. Gotta stay in shape, blah, blah, blah

Train more - doin' it

Sleep more - totally have that covered

Eat more - still nope

Show more - succeeding

Now mom's goals:

Get into Excellent - done

Show more - having a job definitively means we can show more. I was doing one show a month, but now that Arnie is on a break, mom can afford to show me a little more. Yea!

Deal with all my issues (weaves, table, etc) - getting a handle on it

Stay in shape - well, um, moving on

Get an award at the Pug Nationals in 2012 - on track. I'm getting good scores, qualifying more, and we still have 4 months to go.

Qualify for the AKC Invitational in 2012 - on track. I'm in Excellent B, and those are the only scores that count. I have until next June to qualify, so the plan is coming together.

Qualify for the AKC Nationals in 2013 - on track. We're jellin', so that should be a breeze.

Get a MACH - on track. I'm still a youngster, and the foundation is there. Mom just has to deal with getting her act together.

I'll keep you posted.

Movie Monday

Lots of unpacking going on this weekend, but mom and dad managed to squeeze a few movies in.

Unknown (starring Liam Neeson, January Jones and Diane Kruger) ACTION ADVENTURE set in Berlin. Pretty good movie. Mom spent the whole movie trying to guess the "twist", and only figured it out at the very end. Neeson is in a car accident, and finds out that his life has been taken over by another man when he finally wakes up. He spends the rest of the movie trying to convince authorities that he's the real Dr. Harris, and wondering why his wife acts like she doesn't know him. He hooks up with the taxi driver that was in the wreck with him (she saves his life) to try and find out answers. Lots of action, pretty good acting. Neeson, as usual, is good. He's kind of finding his niche in action movies - Taken was really good. Mom gives it a 6 out of 10.

The Warrior's Way (starring Dong-gun Jang, Kate Bosworth and Geoffrey Rush) ACTION WESTERN. This was a movie that's hard to describe. It's kind of Crouching Tiger meets Kill Bill. Just a warning, if you're thinking of renting it: it's gory. REALLY gory. But not gore just for the sake of gore. And there's a great story, awesome affects and beautiful imagery. Set in the late 1800's, the world's greatest swordsman leaves China to hide in a quirky town in the American desert. He happens upon a town of circus folk, complete with clowns and a partial ferris wheel. Outlaws are terrorizing the town, and his clan from China are after him, and it all comes together in a fierce and violent battle. In spite of the gore (which mom's OK with. Remember,she loves horror films) the movie is wonderful. The visual imagery is breathtaking, and the colors and contrasts make this a movie like a walk through a museum. Granted, an odd and sometimes unsettling museum, but compelling all the same. It reminded mom of one of her favorite movies, The Fall. There were images of a barren desert with a beautiful flower garden spot. Fanciful clowns (sort of Wizard the Oz-ish in their clothing, hair and coloring) that pack revolvers for protection. Mom gives it a 7 out of 10.

The house needs to come together quick. I'm getting exhausted going room to room, helping mom unpack.

We're sooo Excellent

Just gotta brag here. I officially became mom's first dog to get an Excellent Agility title. I finished my Excellent Standard title on Sunday. I am now Pastime's Goodness Gracious AX, OAJ.

That's me rocking the a-frame

I barely beat out Arnie to be mom's first, because he got his Excellent Jumpers title about 20 minutes later. So he's now Pastime's Lightning in a Bottle, OA, AXJ.

That's Arnie flying over the jumps

We both got 2nd place ribbons. And I got an Excellent Jumpers leg on Saturday.

And we got to eat doggie cake, because a friend of our's got his MACH. I pretended the cake was for me.

What a Week

I feel like I've been out of the loop forever. But it's only been a week.

One week ago, mom and dad finally closed on the new house.

Last weekend, they spent hours in horrible heat moving into our new house.

They've spent the past few days unpacking essentials, fixing little things, and hooking up the TV and internet.

But we're in! And loving it! The neighborhood is quiet, the house is light and bright, and I still get to sleep in the bed. Life is good.

Now I have to get mentally prepared for an agility trial this weekend. As my grandma says, "no rest for the wicked".

Versatile with a capital V

This honor was bestowed on me by Payton the Pug at Pugnacious P. I'd like to thank her for this award. It means a lot to me.

It comes with rules, however. I have to tell you 7 things about my mom. Here they are:

1. She has gypsy blood. By that, I mean she (and we) move around. She has no fear of moving to new places, where she doesn't know a soul. She left home at 17 (from Syracuse, New York) and has lived in Phoenix, San Diego, Tucson, Sacramento and now Fort Worth. She has a list of places she'd like to live (no snow), and can't wait to retire or win the lottery to check them out.

2. She's a graphic artist. She does 99% of her work on the computer, and loves every minute of it. She's worked at all sorts of places that need graphic designers: a t-shirt shop, ad specialty shop, print shop, sign shop, and the marketing department in a real estate office. Right now she works for a company that sells formula and equipment to sanitize, disinfect, sterilize and remediate bacteria, viruses and pathogens in hospitals, food plants and government buildings.

3. She hates to cook. She wishes she could - she watches the Food Network all the time. But something happens between her motivation to make something delicious and the actual creation of the food. So she'll continue to live vicariously through the food shows.

4. She wants to come back in her next life as someone with musical ability. In spite of years of piano lessons and a love of music, she can't carry a tune. You know those people that think they can sing on American Idol, but really stink? She's those people. Only she KNOWS she can't sing.

5. Mom and dad love working in the same business. They met while they worked together, when they were just friends. Then they started dating, and got married, and went to work at another place together. They were together 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and got along great. Right now, they work different jobs, but hopefully they can swing working together again.

6. My mom creates stained glass artwork. It's dirty, and she has cut up fingers, but she loves it. She can't wait to get into a house where she can start doing it more.

7. She's a reality television junkie. Survivor, Amazing Race, Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew, Cake Boss - if it's a reality show, she's probably checked it out. It's her guilty pleasure. But for the record, she would never actually go on any of those show. Except Greatest American Dog.

Ok, so now I must pass on the award to seven other deserving bloggers.

1. The Westover Pug & Pap Pack @ http://westoverpugpack.blogspot.com/
2. A boy, a girl and a pug @ http://aboyagirlandapug.blogspot.com/
3. Beautiful Siobhan @ http://nicepug.blogspot.com/
4. I'm so excited to be a Pug @ http://jemimajones.blogspot.com/
5. Oisin The Pug @ http://oisinthepug.blogspot.com/
6. Pug Possessed @ http://pugpossessed.blogspot.com/
7. The gang at Smushie Ranch @ http://livingwithapug.blogspot.com/

I hope none of these are redundant. Now let the games begin!

Wacky Wednesday

Mom is about ripping her hair out this week, thus no blogging. We were supposed to close escrow on our new house over 2 weeks ago, but screwup after screwup means it won't be until tomorrow. Hopefully.

Then we have to move this weekend. Yuk. But we'll have a house of our own. Yay.