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...is how everyone should spend the holiday weekend.
Spent Friday making puppy visits, yesterday at a dog show, and today we went for a walk in the park.
Otherwise, I have been pondering novel developments and think I'm starting to get a handle on who my main character is, what she wants, and what she's going to have to do to get there. I hope this will translate soon into words on the page (although, let me tell you it ain't easy typing with a puppy in your lap).
[My grocery total is $36.63]
Checkout kid: Hey your total's a palindrome!
Me: I think I should get a discount.
Checkout Kid: if I were in charge you'd get a 75% discount!
Grocery Bagging Kid: But if you actually did that, people would come to the store and buy palindromic amounts of groceries and you'd have to give them all 75% discounts!
Checkout Kid: Nah, figuring the taxes would totally mess them up.
We got back around 5:30 PM. Blue rode pretty well on the way home. He settled quickly and only got fussy when he needed to stop so all in all it was a pretty good trip.
He was sort of a wild man in the house, which I put down to being tired and all new stuff and just general puppy wildness. But he's asleep in his crate right next to me right now so here's hoping he continues to alternate between wild and asleep, which I can handle (I think).
Anyway, I don't have any really good pictures, because he was way too fast for me, but I'll share what I've got:
Here is what pretty much all the rest of the pictures look like:
There are a few more pictures (a very few!) here
Off in a bit with Billie to pick up the new puppy.
I will post pictures tonight or tomorrow
This past weekend, Billie and I went to Omaha to participate in a tracking test. The test was at the Chalco Hill Recreation Area which is an awesome 1200 acre park right up next to I80. Our hotel was right off the interstate and Chalco more or less backed up to it. There's a lake in the middle, lots of walking/biking trails but also lots and lots of natural areas--knee-high to waist-high cover, trees, and brush.
Billie and I were catalog #6 and drew track #1. It was bright and cool (30s) and sunny with very little wind. BIllie started really well. We (mostly me) had a lot of trouble on the first corner and second leg, but BIllie was awesome and kept working until I stopped being an idiot and went with her. And the last half of the track we really worked well as a team and Billie tracked down the last leg to the glove like she was on rails.
To anyone who doesn't track or hasn't seen tracking, I'm not sure I can describe how totally awesome this was. But it was. Totally Awesome.
In other dog news, I'm going to pick up the new puppy a week from today. His name is Blue (yes, I know it doesn't start with 'J'--but his registered name does). He is so so cute. I'm really looking forward to getting him. I will post pictures once he's finally here. The breeder says he is quiet, self-confident and independent, but when he's ready to go to sleep he comes over and lays down by her, which sounds excellent. I've agreed to show him in conformation (well, really, to persuade other people to show him in conformation) and we'll definitely be doing tracking, as well as obedience, rally and agility. And maybe someday therapy dog work as well, though Billie has the lying on the couch and letting people pet her franchise pretty well sown up.
In not-dog news, I got my January, 2008 issue of Asimov's a couple of days ago with my story, 'The Whale's Lover' in it. This one has rocket ships and distant planets and alien lifeforms. So I am sure it will make everyone everywhere totally happy about the future of SF and my place in it.
And in writing progress news, I am (sadly, slowly) working on 'Ghosts of Fear' and revising 'Cowboys in Space' and 'What Makes a River.'
