To spare you scrolling to the bottom of this post, I'll go right to the good news--Dixie got her first specialty show win today! She was Winners Bitch at the Chesapeake Collie Club under judge Sally Futh!
Now, some indications that we have been seriously infected by the dog show bug. I've spent most of the week fighting off a sinus "thing" but have spent the last two days by the woodstove, watching movies. Didn't go to work, no housework, no grocery shopping, just conserving my energy so I could get Dixie ready for her show. When I got up on Saturday, my voice was gone and I felt horrible, but by the time I went to bed, Dixie had had her bath, her nails had been filed and I had showered, washed and curled my hair for our early drive the next morning. David woke me at 4:00 (yes, 4 a.m) and after a couple cups of coffee, I was dressed and warming up the car while he stoked up the woodstoves and fed the dogs. David brought Dixie out to the car, told me the house was locked up, then asked if I had a key to the back door as he had deadbolted the front, then went out the back door. I have never been able to get my key to work in the back door and don't deadbolt the front as I didn't think I have that key on my ring. David heard a few choice words, got many dirty looks, but since it was still dark, there was no point in trying to fix the likelihood that we were locked out of our house right that moment. Oh,did I mention it had snowed??? The forecast called for nothing to perhaps a dusting--but we had about 6 inches by the time it stopped snowing on Saturday. Still, we were going south, confident that once we we got to Richmond and daylight, the roads would be a snap to navigate. Boy, were we wrong!!! From Ashland to Portsmouth, all interstate driving, the roads were snowy and icy, usually only one lane open. We do have four wheel drive, but I suggested several times we only drive just a bit further, then turn around and go home. We managed to get to the show site only half an hour later than we planned. Dixie got a potty break but we didn't get any breakfast. The show was in a very nice location, a hotel, but since we didn't plan on staying much past Dixie's class, we didn't bring her crate in with us. The grooming areas were all protected with heavy plastic sheeting. Ellen put the finishing touches on our girl and we were set--but the judge was running late, having encountered the same weather we did. Dixie either became bored or was just acting her age and started to entertain herself. She ripped a hole in the plastic sheeting, tried to chew the chair molding on the wall and was up for any and all barking contests from the other entries. Ellen and I alternated and sometimes simoultaneously said "stop that" until it was show time. Waiting to enter the ring, Dixie was still being silly and I could hear Ellen saying, "act like a princess, act like a princess". Fortunately, Dixie did and she won her 6th point! For pictures,though, she reverted back to silly girl, exploring the pattern on the carpet, then poking her nose into the large floral arrangement next to her.
We were back on the road by 1:00. The roads in Portsmouth were still a mess, but conditions improved on the interstates. Most of the lanes were open, traffic was relatively light and we made good time, pulling into our driveway about 5:00. The first key I tried didn't fit the deadbolt, but hallelujah!--the second key did!!! David didn't have to sleep in the kennel/find a divorce lawyer. He's fed the dogs, we've re-started the woodstoves and after a celebration dinner of Quiznos subs and beer, we're ready to drop into bed. It seems we've become "those people" others shake their heads over, but...it was a great day!
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