'Twas Risky Night Before Christmas

This view of the Clement Moore classic was shared at my office yesterday (original source unknown). When you work in the insurance industry, it tends to affect the way you look at things....

‘Twas the night before Christmas (12:01 a.m. 12/25) and all through the house (single family, joisted masonry, e.c.3, terr. 44, pc5), not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse (thorough pride of ownership and excellent maintenance).

The (flame-retardant) stockings were hung by the (contractor-installed) chimney with care, in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there (in spite of deadbolt locks and central station alarm system).

The children (ages 4, 8, 14, & 16) were all nestled snug in their beds (check MVR on 16-year-old) while visions of sugar plums danced in their heads (check for drug use).

Ma in her kerchief (scheduled heirloom) and I in my cap (no slave to fashion) had just settled down for a long winter’s nap. (Check employment, is insured sleeping all day?)

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter (check into condition of premises, housekeeping, etc.), I jumped out of bed to see what was the matter.

Away to the window I flew like a flash, threw back the curtains and tore open the sash (intentional destructive act, no coverage; also, appears insured only wearing a cap in front of uncovered window).

When what to my wondrous eyes should appear, but a miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer. (check if sleigh is rated business use and corporate owned.) With a little old driver so lively and quick, I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick. (Notify life underwriting, order medical on 600-year-old driver).

More rapid than eagles (check MVR for speeding violations) his coursers they came and he whistled and shouted and called them by name (possible aggressive driver).

Now Dasher (turbo equipped?), now Dancer (classic?), now Prancer (check occupation), now Vixen (definitely check occupation), on Comet (possible muscle deer), on Cupid (check credit score), on Donner (4×4) and Blitzen (possible drinking problem?).

To the top of the porch, to the top of the wall (check for structural damage; also look into height exposures), now dash away, dash away, dash away all (old man climbing walls either in great shape or overly medicated).

So up to the housetop his coursers they flew, with a sleigh full of toys and Saint Nicholas, too. (Check for possible retail delivery classification of autos). And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof, the prancing and pawing of each little hoof. (Check for shingle damage; also classification of operations—roofing is a prohibited class).

As I drew in my head and was turning around, down the chimney he came with a bound.

He was dressed all in fur (scheduled items) from his head to his foot, and his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot. (Part-time job as firefighter?)

A bundle of toys he had flung on his back. (Check to see if insured has safety committee; check lifting training). His eyes how they twinkled, his dimples how merry, his cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry (order updated medical report, possible drinking and/or drug abuse).

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth (ineligible for nonsmoker discount) and the smoke encircled his head like a wreath (check batteries in smoke detectors to make sure operational) 

He was chubby and plump a right jolly elf (overweight for height) and I laughed when I saw him in spite of myself. A wink of his eye and a nod of his head soon gave me reason I had nothing to dread (Stranger enters past alarm and insured not worried? Sounds suspicious.)

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work, and filled all the stocking, then turned with a jerk (review workplace for ergonomic compliance).

And laying his finger aside of his nose (obscene gesture?), and giving a nod, up the chimney he rose. (Check operations, chimney sweeps are prohibited classification, look into GL PD deductible.)

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle, and away they all flew like the down of a thistle (not likely with fat man and sleigh full of toys. Check GVW for proper classification, light/service/local seems unlikely).

And I heard him exclaim as he drove out of sight, “Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!” (Check hours of operation; 24-hour service operations prohibited. Also check into seasonal nature of business.)

NOTE: ORDER NEW LOSS CONTROL REPORT. DIARY FOR 07/01/14 TO DISCUSS WITH AGENT.

C-ATCH Bravo

Last Sunday, Bravo and I achieved the CPE Agility Title C-ATCH (CPE Agility Trial Championship). A little rundown on what it took to get here:

7 years of training

2 1/2 years of attending trials

39 trial days

4-5 classes each trial day

7 games (Standard, Colors, Wildcard, Snooker, Jackpot, FullHouse, Jumpers)

5 levels

120 qualifying scores required - 30 in Standard, 15 in each of the other 6 games

16 extra qualifying scores

I think it's interesting that we had 13 trial days in 2011, 13 in 2012, and 13 in 2013 (so far).

So what's next? Well, we continue training and attending trials. The next one is in about a month. We work on a second C-ATCH title. This means 10 more qualifying Standard runs, and 5 each of the other 6 games. The 16 extra scores will apply to that number. (You can accumulate an unlimited number of C-ATCH titles. The CPE website tells me one dog has achieved 16!) Hopefully, we will get into Nationals next June. Bravo loves competing, and we'll keep going as long as he's having fun.

Poster

Russ has been working on making over one of the bedrooms for a study. And encouraging me to set up an office in another one, partly because for a while we thought that next year I might have to work from home. So far I've mostly just thought about what to do in the old guest room. But one day I was looking over quotes I have written down and decided I'd like to make a poster, that would eventually go up in "my" new room. I designed the poster below, and today I picked up the finished copy. (Well, copies - yes, Karis, I have one for you.)  I took the photo in 2010, after Karis and I climbed the bridge.  I processed it in Lightroom, then added the quote and re-sized it in Photoshop. I'm really happy with how it came out. It's kinda hard to see in this post, but on the 3 ft  by 2 ft poster, you can easily see the people on top of the bridge.

On being a grown-up

I found this post in my drafts. I started it 5 years ago, and for some reason, never finished it. But it still applies, so here's what I wrote then:

I've been thinking lately about being a grown-up. After all, my youngest child is in college. I attended my 30th college reunion (and I fear I was NOT a child prodigy who graduated at the age of 8). Recently celebrated my 31st anniversary. Am 5 years into my second (or third) career. And have my own internal, though erratic, furnace system, if you know what I mean. One would think that if I am not a grown-up now, then I never will be. Certainly when I was in my teens and twenties, I assumed that by the time I was 50 I would be mature, confident, etc.

But I don't FEEL that old. And in certain situations I act like a 15-year-old. I like to read teen novels and go to see teen chick-flicks. On a hot summer day, I still feel like going to a water park. And is it really my job to take care of a whole house?? That's waaayy too much housework, she whines. Confident? No, I still second-guess every important decision. And even many unimportant decisions.

5 years later, Russ is now 60 and we are starting to think about what retirement will be like. I still feel pretty much the same way I did 5 years ago. And now I'm listening to my kids talk about the things that make them feel like adults, or not. So here's to you, Jason and Karis! Don't ever lose that kid inside.

On getting in shape

For the last 4 months, I have been working on losing weight, which includes joining Weight Watchers and exercising more. It's been going pretty well, and I am fairly happy that I am down 30 pounds. Though of course I would like to have lost more, that's pretty reasonable. Also, I haven't given up peanut butter, ice cream or chocolate. I probably wouldn't have lasted if that had been required.

I'm at that point where I need to buy some new clothes, but I still need to lose more weight, so hesitant to buy too much. The first thing I bought? New bras. Went to Nordstrom's last weekend and used a fitter, who helped me pick out very nice, very expensive bras. Fortunately I found out you are only supposed to wash them every 4-5 times you wear them (unless you sweat heavily), because I only bought 3. Band size was 4 inches smaller! But cups were 2 sizes larger, which was a huge surprise. I also bought a couple of shirts for my trip to Chicago. Which I didn't end up wearing. Next will be pants, because I only have a couple of older ones that I can wear now. Yeah, I know, terrible problem to have.

The exercise part is a mix of highs and lows. After a few weeks, I got the ActiveLink, which is a device you wear and every so often you plug it in to the USB port on a computer and it tells the WeightWatchers online tracking system how many extra points you get. I found out that I am so sedentary during the day that my 40-50 minute walks in the morning didn't even get me to baseline on the ActiveLink. I have to add at least 30 minutes at lunch and a stroll in the evening to get to the 4-point target.

The high part is that agility is way more points than I expected. I mean, each run is only a minute or less, and there are a maximum of 5 runs a day. Of course, there's also warming him up and walking him out afterwards, plus I usually work 2 or 3 classes. But still. My first agility trial was 7 points for one day. The last one, I was a leash-runner for half of the first (really large) class on Saturday and ended up walking fast back and forth for over an hour. That day I got 11 points.

On the other hand, the exercise video I got doesn't seem to earn me as many points as walking for the same amount of time, even though I feel like I am working a LOT harder. Consequently, I don't use it as much as I probably should.

Anyway, I actually started this post to talk about what I did this morning. It is supposed to be hellish hot later today, so I decided to walk Bravo when I got up. Russ has been running every other day, and so he decided to go along. We went down to Lake Normandale just as the sun was coming up, so it was really pretty. Russ took off running and after a few minutes, I started to run as well. I've done that a little over the past few weeks. This time I ran most of the way down one side of the lake. Then I had to stop and walk for a while. I picked up running again for maybe a third of the next side, then walked the final part. It's supposed to be a total of 1.9 miles, and I'm guessing I ran at least 3/4 of a mile. Which is much more than I would have run if Russ hadn't been ahead of me.

The thing that annoys me is that Russ only started running again about 5 weeks ago. Before that, he had been going on our evening ambles for maybe a month. He now runs every other day - started with half a mile and built up. Today, though, he ran nearly the whole lake path, while I was exhausted after less than half running, the rest walking. And to add insult to injury, he came home to do pushups and lift weights, while I collapsed in a chair.

Guess it's good that now I have someone to push me.

Challenge 2 - low light

Last week's Challenge was low light photos. I decided to try a photo by candlelight. I need more work on this...

Russ and Bravo

Decided to try the Digital Photography School's Weekly Challenge. This week it is family, so here is mine. At least the part of my family that was accessible today.

*This was supposed to have been published on 6-23. Oops.

Playing with my new camera

I'm exploring the world of DSLRs with my new Pentax K-30. Having lots of fun!

Self-protrait with shiny blue camera.
It now has a black & white floral strap with soft pink lining.

First outing was to Bush Lake at dusk.

The iris at the lake were gorgeous.

I missed the deer that was about 20 feet from me at the lake, but saw several the next day at Richardson.
This was the first - a young buck

Then the doe.

finally the fawn hiding in the grass

On the Fourth, I visited the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden.
But didn't see too many wildflowers.

Next stop was the Sculpture Garden where they had another
installation of Artist-Designed Mini-Golf

And of course, the iconic Spoonbridge and Cherry.

Live like a dog

Live simply.

Love generously.

Care deeply.

Speak kindly.

Remember, if a dog was the teacher you would learn things like:

When loved ones come home, always run to greet them.

Never pass up the opportunity to go for a joyride.

Allow the experience of fresh air and the wind in your face to be pure Ecstasy.

Take naps.

Stretch before rising.

Run, romp, and play daily.

Thrive on attention and let people touch you.

Avoid biting when a simple growl will do.

On warm days, stop to lie on your back on the grass.

On hot days, drink lots of water and lie under a shady tree.

When you’re happy, dance around and wag your entire body.

Delight in the simple joy of a long walk.

Be loyal.

Never pretend to be something you’re not.

If what you want lies buried, dig until you find it.

When someone is having a bad day, be silent, sit close by, and nuzzle them gently.

ENJOY EVERY MOMENT OF EVERY DAY!

On failure and motivation

Today Bravo and I competed in another agility trial. Once again, we failed to successfully complete the Jackpot game. We seem to have hit a roadblock with this particular game, as we have gone 0 for 4 this year.

When I realized what had happened, I was quite upset. I contemplated just leaving, without completing the last 2 games of the day. I walked around outside for a while, fighting the frustration. If I couldn't get out of this mood, there was no point in continuing, at least not today. Bravo enjoys this so much, and I can't run him if I'm in a bad place. It wouldn't be fair to him. And I didn't have much time.

I managed to shake it off a bit, and got ready for the standard run. This is a game where you just follow the numbered obstacles. The ending was tricky, changing directions, alternately pushing out and pulling in. We ran well, and Bravo responded perfectly to all my cues, verbal and physical.

The last run of the day was Full House, where you make your own course, incorporating 3 single jumps, 2 "circles" (tunnel or tire jump) and 1 "joker", all while accumulating the appropriate number of points for your level. It seemed to me that getting enough points wouldn't be too tough, so I decided to put in a few techniques that don't show up in courses all that often, but that we have been practicing in class. Again, we kept the teamwork going throughout the run and finished the day with a great run and a first place ribbon.

When I got home I decided to review our stats.
2011: 13 trial days, 49 qualifying scores
2012: 13 trial days, 45 qualifying scores
2013:  6 trial days, 17 qualifying scores
Completed all 80 runs for Levels 1, 2, 3, and 4, as well as 31* of the 40 required for Level 5 in just over 26 months. That's a pretty good record. We have about an 80% success rate, and I can't really complain about that.

I had set my sights on completing Bravo's C-ATCH (those 9 remaining runs) before he turns 9 in September. But you know, that's a very arbitrary measure of success. We got started running really late, not until Bravo was 6. I'm happy with how we're working in general, and I love how enthusiastic he is. The most frequent comment I get is that he is so happy when he's in the ring.

So I plan to celebrate the joy and teamwork. Challenge myself to use different techniques and not just play it safe. Make sure that Bravo is having fun in each and every run. And have fun just running with my dog.

Bravo, showing the joy

courtesy of Herreid Photography

*For anyone who is nerdy enough to add all this up, you will notice there is an extra run. I have 1 more qualifying score than I need in the Jumpers game.