Shamrock Showdown 2009 from Jonathan Baize on Vimeo.

I start box loading at 2:10 and Tomba starts her run at 2:30.

This weekend was intense. The news everyone is waiting for. Tomba is officially a competitor in Region 5 flyball. She came away with 69 points and her first title, FD(Flyball Dog). She ran perfect. She only had one foul/rerun and that was because Crystal launched her too close to a dog that she has never practiced passing before that happens to be a big dog. However she redeemed herself in passing when Crystal let her go early, but instead of running around the first jump, ran around the other dog and then made a sharp turn in order to make the first hurdle. I don't think anyone on the team was breathing when we saw Tomba run to the side and then broke into a cheer when she made the first hurdle. Both team captains were more than impressed with her performance. She knows the game and the rules, now we work on fine tuning each part to build speed. Also we're going to work on conditioning her. Running anywhere from 15-25 heats a day for 2 days can tire even the most active of dogs.

I will post some videos later. We have 2 months to work on her speed before the next tournament. World Series of Dog Shows at Reliant, here we come!

Ok So Wednesday was the bithday of the twins that I am a nanny for. They turned 6 and I had this whole special day planned where I was going to pick them up from school at 12:30 (they usually stay until 4) and take them to Chuck E Cheese for lunch and playtime! Then we were going to get ice cream and go to the zoo, children's museum, or the science museum (it was their choice since we have memberships to everything in Houston). Plans changed however when I arrived on Wednesday morning and found Dov in his pajamas on the couch watching t.v. The poor baby had a temperature of 102.9 and was soooo sick! Luckily that was a day that their Daddy was home (he is an English professor and commutes the 100 miles or so to Texas A&M in College Station on Tuesday and Thursday) so he could help me with the sick birthday boy, Isaac (2 1/2) and Mimi (8 months). Thursday was the interesting day because Dove was still sick but his temperature was down to 101 and Daddy had to go to work so I was all alone. So if that wasn't bad enough, about 1:45 I get a call from Hetty (the headmistress of their montessori school)informing me that Saul said he had an ear infection and his ear was bright red. Hetty informed me that he was "very sick" and I had to come get him and take him to the doctor. Ok so no big deal right? WRONG! I was at home with a sick boy, a screaming baby girl and a sleeping 2 year old. Oh yeah and I had NO CAR to take them all to school to pick up Saul! So I told her "I have a sick boy, a sleeping 2 year old and a screaming baby" and that she needed to call their mom since there was nothing I could do". The mom found a friend to pick up Saul and bring him to the house and then told me what Hetty told her I said. Apparently Hetty told their mom that "I didn't care" and that I said "I'm too busy to get Saul so he can just stay there and I don't care if he's sick". Needless to say the mom knows how she is ( we have one of these episodes about every month) so she didn't believe it.
Ok s now onto me. I got up this morning and had almost no voice! Tomba had a visit at Memorial Hermann hospital and I had to go. I thought it was just allergies or something like that so I went on the visit. Tomba was a champ and we made a very special visit to a little boy she has grown attached to who has terminal cancer. The mom told me that it was ok to take pictures of him with Tomba (which will be posted soon)so she laid in the bed next to him and snuggles with him! So when I get home I start kind of feeling warm and achy! Yes that is right I now have what the twin had and am miserable with a fever but I can't find the thermometer so I have no idea how high it is. Luckily I am off today and Monday so I plan to sleep all weekend and try to get over it by Wednesday because the twins wanted to do their birthday stuff that day ! Oh well I guess it's part of the job as a nanny!

Not only do you have to worry about ground attacks, now they've taken to the skies.

Wow, I just found out that even though Houston has heavy trash pickup only once a month, only every other month will they pick up tree trash. I thought it was bad enough that it is only once a month, but now I have to plan if I want to throw large items away. The other kicker is that they won't "allow" you to put the trash out more than a week before pickup. So if I'm sick, busy at work, out of town, etc and can't get my large yard trash out to the curb, I have to wait 2 months before they'll pick it up. And I have to store it somewhere, don't know where.

Another reason to move to the country where a match will solve all yard waste issues.