The One Where I'm Drinking the Kool-Aid

I can't help it. After three games where KU has looked almost as good as I think they should look, I'm getting excited about the season. I know that Kansas is just going to turn around and have two bad games that make me wonder how a group with such talent could play so poorly and I'll start pouting about the NIT again. But with Jackson, Rush and Chalmers stepping up and the team tied for second in the Big 12 with Colorado, a team Kansas beat at Colorado, I just can't help but start thinking about the tournament and maybe even a first-round win. I love basketball season. I just can't help it. I was looking for something to be excited about, and I'm starting to get it. Those were tough wins at A&M and Iowa State. If it can keep up, Kansas could easily finish second or third in the Big 12.


On the work front, I've decided to look for another job. I told Joanna today and she was uber-supportive. I'm so glad that our relationship has changed. We're actually enough alike that we can be great friends. She even said she'd keep her eyes open for me. I had pretty much decided that I was going to work there until I could afford to do dog training and freelance writing full-time, probably a year or two, but the Districts are splitting and it looks like the office would move to an hour commute from my house.

I know this will come as a surprise to all those who know me and complain about my Type A personality, but my life is jam-packed right now. I can't afford an hour commute. I would have to cut out running with my dogs in the morning, which I love, and it would be harder to do dog training three nights a week. I'd have to start eating fast food out of my car like I did when I was a reporter, and I don't want to get back to that lifestyle. The only reason my life works is that I live so close to my job. I need to maintain that distance to keep doing what I like. If something has to go, it's going to be this job. We'll see what happens, but I'm actively looking again.


On the dog training front, I scheduled Chubbs' Delta Society test for this Sunday at 2. I found an organization that is affliated with the Delta Society and is active in the South Bay. Delta Society is pretty much the top therapy organization. It's affliated with the READ program and works with all types of nursing homes and hospitals. The test is really hard and I'm not sure how he'll do, but I'm looking forward to trying. This week will involve a lot of training. I hope to post a success story on Monday!

The One With the Fat Aggie

I finally watched the KU-A&M game this afternoon (yes, I do have a use for TiVo) and I was really impressed with the Aggie crowd. The last time I was at an Aggie game (two years), the crowd wasn't half full, only the band and the corps (right?) were into it and there were more Jayhawks than Aggies. This is true of almost everywhere Kansas travels except Missouri, Iowa State and the Oklahoma schools, so I was impressed to see that Billy Gillespie has built a program that the fans actually show up to see. Everyone wore white and the crowd was in it the whole time, despite Kansas building up a 10-point lead in the second half and holding onto it. I have to give kudos where due since I usually make fun of how little people in Texas seem to know about basketball.

However, I do have to make fun of one guy. There was this overweight guy sitting right behind the basket wearing no shirt and a tie. It was pretty disgusting. Every time KU would shoot a free throw in the second half, you'd see this guy in the background jumping up and down and jiggling his fat. It was enough to make you want to go out a jog a few miles to make sure you never look like that.

Anyway, I'm on the phone with my best friend, Mindy, while I'm watching the game, describing this guy. She called me later to tell me that he was mentioned in a post-game column where the author described him as "an added distraction" for KU free-throw shooters. Brandon Rush said, "Yeah, everytime I went to shoot a free throw, I had to look at him jiggling around. It was nasty." I'm starting to really like him. You can always count on him for an entertaining quote. So that was my good laugh for the day. The best part is that if I know small-town farm kids like I think I do, this kid would probably just be thrilled to be mentioned, even though he's described as nasty. :)

The One With Lassie and Luke Axtell

Yesterday, the funniest thing happened. I've been home for like 10 days with this stupid inner ear infection (finally got antibiotics Tuesday and am starting to feel better!!), and my poor dogs are going nuts, especially Muggsy, who needs an outlet for his energy that doesn't involve attacking Chubbs. So he's taken to digging up the backyard since the act of digging releases endorphins in dogs that are actually very soothing. The funny part about this is that he doesn't want me to know that he's digging, so he digs one hole and then digs another hole to fill the one he just dug. So it actually doesn't look like he's digging at all. :) The Lassie part of this story, though, is about Chubbs. Chubbs tattled!! I knew Muggsy was in the backyard for a long time yesterday, so I knew something was up, but I was just going to leave it alone because he wasn't causing trouble. Well, Chubbs came in the house and stood right in front of me and started whining. He never does that, so I got up to follow him. Just like Lassie, he'd go just far enough that I could still see him and then wait for me to catch up. He led me to Muggsy's digging pit! I couldn't believe the little tattle-tale! Muggsy looked terrified when I saw him, but when I realized how he was trying to hide the digging by doing more digging, I just laughed and left. He's out there right now, poor kid. I can't wait until I feel better!!

And now, onto sports, Micah Downs left the team this week because of undisclosed personal problems. I never thought I'd use this phrase, but he's pulling a Luke Axtell! Bizarre. He called Bill Self from Seattle (no one knew he even left) and said that he would not be returning to the team. According to journalists in the area, Downs was a loner and hadn't made any friends on the team. Then, fans on phog.net found his myspace page that had a message from his girlfriend basically saying, "Glad you left Kansas. We aren't in Kansas anymore, Toto (note to non-Kansans -- this joke is not funny or original). I know you have to leave again soon, but I can't wait to watch you play again and go on road trips with you." Weird. So I guess he has a team picked out where he wants to go, maybe Washington or Stanford, where she goes, but he's going to have to sit out a year. It's so weird to me that kids do this. Just go where you wanted the first time.

Apparently, everyone has been down on Self because he didn't try to make Downs feel more wanted, but I'm sorry, Self isn't his dad -- he's his coach. Everyone has trouble adjusting to college, and our professors don't following us around to make sure we have friends. If you're scared to move far from home (which I clearly can't relate to), then don't do it, especially if you aren't even going to make an effort.

And, yes, I have been getting the phonecalls to mock me that yet another player left the team. Like I care that the sixth guy off the bench isn't there anymore. Oh no! Hit me where it hurts -- the benchwarmers. There's too much talent on this team anyway. It would be much better if there were five definite starters and 2-3 guys coming off the bench. This way, there's not so much whining about playing time and rotating rotations.

I think Kansas might have found something that works with Chalmers and Rush hitting their stride and Darnell Jackson becoming the biggest surprise of the season. If they can stick with this lineup and continue to make it work, using Moody and Robinson as role players, Kansas still might be able to make a late run for the tournament. This NIT stuff is just too hard for me to accept. I don't even know when that is!! Any Mizzou fans reading this and want to clue me in?

The One Where Friends Comes Back

http://www.hollywood.com/news/detail/id/3477372

The One Where I'm Growing Up

I guess it's no secret that it's pretty easy to hurt my feelings. So when something that should hurt my feelings doesn't, I think that's news-worthy. Today, my dog training boss called me to tell me that one of my students complained about me. I guess I'm probably considering the source because this guy's an idiot and has been a problem since day one, but I wasn't upset by what he had to say. He was calling to complain about the way I'm having him control his dog, a 15-month-old German Shepard Dog who's barking at all the other dogs and really scaring the papillons in class. In that situation, you have the handler walk neutrally away until the dog stops barking and then reward the appropriate behavior. This particular handler wants to do police work with his dog and has decided that this behavior is appropriate. Since I've watched my boss and several of her friends work their protection dogs, I know that it isn't. But there's not much I can do with someone who doesn't seem interested in solving the problem. This week, I was going to talk to him about focus, but that's a whole different story.

Anyway, I've been handling the situation exactly as I've seen my boss handle it on several different occasions and I feel confident that I did the best I could. My boss, knowing me as the rest of you do, prefaced the talk by saying, "Don't take this to heart. He's an idiot and I really put him in his place for second-guessing you," but I wasn't upset and I knew she would defend me. Once you've proven yourself to her, she will always defend you. She has more confidence in my abilities than I do, which makes me feel really good and, I guess, a little more confident.

Since everything hurts my feelings, though, I guess it shows a little self-growth that I am able to consider the source and not let this bother me. It's something I work on a lot but still struggle with every time I face criticism or what I perceive to be criticism.

The One With the Good Loser

I'm back at work today and still feeling terrible, but that didn't stop me from being particularly obnoxious to one of my co-workers. Though I wasn't myself really cheering for Texas, I made a bet with someone at work that Texas would win, a USC fan who thinks I went to Texas. We bet that the loser would have to have the winner's bumper sticker on their car for a week. Though I am not a Texas fan, I felt I should live up to their obnoxious standards and made him pose with his hook ems up (or however you would say that. :) I then sent the picture to everyone at work and asked them to make sure to comment on the stylish bumper sticker that has improved his car. Enjoy as well.

The One With the Dizziness

I hate being sick. It makes me feel so useless. I haven't been to work in a week, though I did continue to teach dog class, because I had an inner ear infection that was causing me massive head pains and dizziness. This was certainly a lost week, and not because of Kansas' devastating loss to its evil rival, Missouri. (Hello, how can you support a state that can't figure out how to say the name of the own state they live in!! Does anyone see an A at the end of Missouri?) I'm still not even feeling that much better today, though I will be back at work on Monday.

I can't take it anymore. I was too sick to even read, so I had to watch TV, hours and hours of TV. I hate TV. I feel like my mind is turning to mush because I haven't made it think in a week. I also did a lot of sleeping. So that's why the absence from the blog.

Muggsy has been going a little nutty without his typical exercise and has tried to attack Chubbs three times. He connected once. Yesterday, he was giving so many evil eyes that I put both of them in lockdown for awhile. I think they'll be glad to get me out of the house for awhile.

The plus of the weekend, if you can call it that, was watching Kansas beat Nebraska by 40 points. However, watching how good they CAN be just makes me frustrated that they can't seem to play like that with any sort of consistency. I can't believe a team with that much talent is going to be playing in the NIT. Frustrating.

And finally, Dad Watch 2006: After waiting three weeks for him to return my "thanks for the Christmas video" phone call, I called him back again. He was in a foul mood and tried to get me to reveal the secret to his relationship with my mom that I apparently know but am keeping from both of them, but he did say something sweet that I thought I would share. Remember how I told you all that he read a story on the video tape, the first story I can ever remember him reading to me in my life. Well, he told me that he practiced reading that story 40 times before he finally read it on video (I'm sure a slight exaggeration but still sweet) and then recorded it three times before he was happy with his performance. At least it shows that he put thought into my gift. That makes it more special for me. My dad has never really been able to read well -- he has dyslexia and dropped out of high school -- so it's sweet that he practiced reading for my video.

Guess that's it. Back to my sick bed.

The One with the Humane Society

This weekend I attended volunteer orientation at the Humane Society of Greater Kansas City (HSGKC). I learned a couple of things, found a dog I want to take home, and left feeling better than I've felt in a long time.

First, the things I learned: All the Humane Societies in the US aren't connected. I thought it was kinda like McDonald's. But each one is a separate not-for-profit, and therefore must raise it's own funds. Apparently, grants are few and far between. They mostly rely on folks donating their personal funds. I also learned that the HSGKC is a no-kill shelter (yeah!) and that Wayside Waifs is not. Which is exactly opposite of what I've always heard. Apparently, WW has the contract with the city, so when they run out of space, they euthanize. WW is where Chandler's parents took Jesse, their Llasso and Candi and Bart took Jenny, their cocker spaniel. Very sad.

Now, for the dog I want to take home: Bobo, the basset hound (of course) / terrier mix. So funny! All the other dogs are going nuts, jumping and barking. But not Bobo. He's chilled. Hangin' in this crib. Occassionally letting out a good, deep woof.

I stayed an hour longer than I was supposed to, and I left feeling so great I missed my turn to get back home! So I'm looking forward to more Saturday mornings with the doggies. I'll get to walk and play with the dogs, reinforce their basic obedience, and occassionally go to the PetSmart with them and help them get adopted.

The One With the Long (Lost) Season

Yes, it's going to be a long basketball season, as if it wasn't already. I thought this would be the year that KU finally lost to K-State, but I certainly didn't think it would be at Allen Fieldhouse. I guess it's just one of those years. Ask me in a couple of years and I probably won't even remember that this happened.

It's a neat trick that I learned last year. Let's face it, Jayhawk fans, the worst is behind us. The worst thing that could have ever happened to me, as far as being a sports fan, is that team, last year's team, losing in the first round just to watch a Roy Williams-led North Carolina team win the national championship. Ask me about it and I'll tell you that there was no tournament last year. I'll tell you, "The weirdest thing happened. They just didn't have the tournament." I said the same thing my freshman year when a Raef LaFrentz, Paul Pierce team lost in the second round to the University of Rhode Island. I couldn't even tell you who won the the tournament that year. I didn't watch another minute of basketball after that. If you ask me about Roy Williams, I'll tell you that he mysteriously died five days after KU lost to Syracuse in the national championship game.

I actually remember these things, unfortunately, but I started to notice that certain things I'll forget. For example, Graham started teasing me about how bad KU lost to Villanova last year and I honestly had no idea what she was talking about. I realized that I can't remember anything about last year. I have to really think about it to remember who KU beat and lost to, and it was only after talking to Mindy for quite awhile that I remembered that she talked me through the Villanova game on the phone because I was doing a school tour at the plant on a random Saturday. But I never would have remembered that if I hadn't had two people trying to remind me. Crazy, huh?

So it's quite possible that if you ask me about this year's Kansas team, I'll simply say, "I don't remember." I'll probably always remember that there were 13 guys with talent on the team, but no go-to guy. I'll remember that everyone was young and kept waiting for someone else to step up so the team lost almost every close game they played in. I'll probably remember that the Rush kid played for us. But as far as wins and losses, I think this will be another lost season.

The One With the Running

If I were honest, this post would be called The One With All the Walking. But I've been in politics too long, so I'm calling it running. My New Years resolution was to get up and run with my dogs every morning at 5:30. It sucks. I hate it. But I actually did it on Monday and Tuesday. It's funny how different my neighborhood is between 5:30 and 6. I take Muggsy at 5:30 when no one else is out. It's deserted and there are strange people lurking on corners that run when they see me coming with my 80-pound Akita. At 6, when I take Chubbs and Fenway, everyone is out. I run into joggers and tons of people walking their dogs.

I also took Muggsy running at his typical Yorba Linda spot yesterday and I have some successes and failures to report.

Failure: I let Muggsy off-leash and he ran away. It's my own fault. I need to better train the recall. I know how to do it and I just skipped some steps, apparently some crucial ones. I have to look at it as just another training opportunity. I was really upset though and ignored him for several hours after catching him. This is the best punishment ever for Muggsy. He hates it when I won't talk to or look at him.

Success: After my class that follows the running, a girl about my age came up to me to talk about her fearful Rottie. It was a long story that I won't relay, but he reminded me of Muggsy. She was in tears and ask me if I honestly thought she could keep this dog. So I told her to hold on while I went and got my reactive dog out of the car. I talked to her about management and showed her what she could realistically expect in public. Because he was just excited that I was talking to him again, Muggsy was on his best behavior. I wouldn't let anyone pet him or come close to him, but she tossed him treats and he just stood beside me, focused on me. I told her how he used to lunge and bark at everyone who came near him, and she couldn't believe it. So it was nice to see how far he's come. Sometimes I need to be reminded.

The One with the Boss's Salary

So, the "Employee Services" group sits right behind me at work. I put their name in quotes b/c I'm not really sure what "service" they provide. They are generally quite worthless. They are implementing a new HR system, and there have been a host of problems and many complaints. The most pressing to me is that they are so freakin' loud.

My boss, we'll call her (I'm not very good at this name thing) Natalie ... which is her actual name ... anyway, she did not receive her paycheck this past Friday b/c the new system jacked up. So a couple of ES losers are on the phone with their support folks talking about Natalie's missing paycheck. And the tech guy goes, "what are the amounts?" And then the ES losers just start reading off her paycheck!!! Hello! Her entire group of subordinates sits ONE ROW OVER. So now I know how much my boss makes. I find this extremely unprofessional. Does anyone else? How hard is it to say, "hey, I'll call you right back from a conference room" or get off speaker phone and whisper the amounts or email ... something!

So who thinks I should report this little infraction to these people's supervisor? And can you tell that I loathe them?

The One With Ashley Judd

Yes, she was there. We all saw her, several times, on TV. And since we've been joking about her all weekend, I thought it was a fitting thing to post about. Of course, the real story is that Kansas beat ranked Kentucky by 30 points and looked pretty damn good. Do I think this is an indication of great things to come? Um, no. I think this is an indication that our talented group of freshmen and sophomores can play really well sometimes. They can beat anyone in the Big 12. They can also lose to anyone in the Big 12. I guess we'll see what happens.

There were some funny Ashley Judd quotes that I wanted to share. My mom told me that when she walked in, Bob said, "Ashley Judd is in the building," to which Max responded, "Really? I didn't notice with all the beautiful women in Kansas." :) You gotta love Max. I'm so sad that he's retiring. I mean, I know he has to because he's a million, but what's it going to be like when it's Bob and some nobody. Sad.

Then, Brandon "Jareemdon" Rush was quoted in the J-Dub as saying, "Yeah, I saw Ashley. I think she was looking at me. I mean, why wouldn't she have been looking at me?" Nice. I think I've said all I need to say about that. We all know about the Rush brothers...


On a non-sports-related note, I started the first of my dog classes this weekend and had a disappointing start. My Beach stores (Long and Redondo) didn't sell many spots AT ALL. But supposedly, my Costa Mesa store has two full classes and one that has a dog or two in it. So I guess that will be alright. I'm also getting more private lessons, and my boss is starting to trust me with mild aggression and evaluations. She seems to think I'll be full-time in a year. She plans to do a lot more promotion this year.

I also started agility class with Chubbs today. It was fun. I don't think he'll be good at it because he's older and has bad hips, but he had fun today. It was just beginning stuff, and he did everything right as soon as I showed him how. The hardest part was going through things, like tunnels and rings. He would try to run around it. But once I showed him what to do, he did it right every time after that. He's a smart guy! Muggsy is also doing great. We went running today, and he seems to have calmed down from all the holiday stress. Maybe because I officially ended my own holiday funk on Friday.

Finally, before I get back to studying for Chubbs' therapy test, I talked to my friend, Travis, today, who earned an internship in Washington DC working for a senator. It sounds like he has one of the best internships, one that will really utilize his talents and provide a great starting point for his new career. I'm really, really excited for you, Travis!! Best of luck and keep us posted on your success.

The One With the Dad Video

Not quite as good as "The One With the Prom Video," only the greatest Friends episode ever, but I got my Christmas present with my dad this week. As always, his timing is impeccable. He caught me during a week when I've been pretty down about some things, and when I saw the video, I was sick to my stomach.

My dad is out of work right now and has spent the last six months or so fixing up my childhood home so he can sell it and move to Lawrence to be closer to my brother. (Hey, better him than me.) So he doesn't have any money. For Christmas, he made me a videotape. Though I cried the whole way through, it was actually pretty sweet.

He starts by saying hello to my whole family, which, of course, includes my boyfriend and three dogs. He even did the "hook em" finger thing (Mon, ask your dad if that has a name -- it just hit me, your dad is probably being insufferable, too ;) to try to bond with my boyfriend. It was kinda cute. Then, he read me 'Twas the Night Before Christmas.' I guess it's never too late to become a father. My dad has never read me a story in my entire life. His voice broke during the part where he says "and it shook when he laughed like a bowl full of jelly" and I cried for the next 20 minutes. I contend that crying is cathartic. :)

Anyway, he then showed some old photos of Christmas in our old home. There were pictures of our first home and pictures of the tree from the living room where the roof leaked and there were buckets everywhere. (I'm sure you remember that!!) In one of the pictures, I even look happy, standing in front of the tree in some red rain jacket that I was wearing in every picture that was taken when I was 9, I think. Then, he shows Christmas videos of Jimmy, Roy, Annie and Brandy. Some of it I didn't even remember. One video is my last Christmas at Kansas, when I had an internship and couldn't come home the Christmas before I graduated. One was when I must have been a junior in high school because I was all decked out in my Dallas Cowboys gear, my bangs weren't too out of control and my grandpa was in it. Ross commented that I looked mad at the world -- doesn't that characterize the first 18 years of my life... For most of the video, I'm holding a newspaper in front of my face so I couldn't be seen. Pretty silly. It was so cute to see Grandma, though. Grandpa didn't say anything, but Grandma had a comment for everything. It made me smile. I'm so much like her. I never really realized it. I also realized how hick we were. I never really knew it back then. Funny to go back in time and see what you used to be like. In the video with Jimmy, Roy and Annie from that same year, Mon and her little sister were there, her little sister with glasses and small, like I still think of her, and she made a joke with my mom. It was so cute. Next time, you come visit, Mon, you'll have to watch it.

Then, he plays eight Christmas songs, just showing the farm covered in snow. This part gets a little long.

Finally, he comes back on camera, reminds me what Christmas is really about and tells me that he misses me. The last scene is Troi in the front yard, running, looking pretty clean, and he, Troi and his two dogs tell me Merry Christmas and that they love me. There was crying.

All in all, it was a very sweet sentiment. Just the kind to make my depression a little bit worse. But I'm tired of feeling like this, so I took the day off work to just make myself get better. Tomorrow, I promise to feel much better because I'm going to start dog classes again and then get ready for another year of work. This is my last day of crummy 2005 holiday behavior. Tomorrow, I start my cheerful, ambitious 2006 behavior: getting up at 5:30 a.m. to run every day, no more calling in sick to work, working on training my own dogs on evenings that I don't have class, starting dog classes and writing classes at UCLA, starting agility class with Chubbs and finishing my therapy course so I can't get Chubbs trained and start doing charity work and whatever I come up with during the year to keep myself busy. :)

The One With Integrity

I heard on a radio brain buster today that the No. 1 word looked up in the dictionary this year was integrity. I found this a little odd. Doesn't everyone already know what integrity means?

I guess that none of the people I worked for were the people looking up this word, or I'd have a completely different attitude about my job. :)