von Moeller Hof Dobermans

(FTTKS=Funny things the kids said)
First - the bus did not come their first day of school, and even though I called the school to mention this, the bus also did not come the second day of school, which left me ah, rather annoyed.  The kids were waiting out on the front porch, and I opened the door and said, “Come on - we’re going on a bus hunt’ (thinking that I was going to find that bus driver and have a word with her!).  The boys thought that was really funny - they thought I was going to try to kill a bus.  (bus hunt — get it?)

Second - over the past week or so, we have dealt with several items made in China.  One was a gift from last Xmas that I had squirreled away, another was a new dvd player.. in both cases, there were some instructions that weren’t very good, and my husband said, “Where was it made?  China?”.  Yesterday, we got a new TV after having taken one back to Costco.  First question - was it made in China?  Yes, indeed, it was.  Eric said, ‘Don’t they ever take a day off?’ 

Would you like to see something I think is quite remarkable?  This is Miss Quinna doing the retrieve with me trying to tape her at the same time.  I started out using Michael Ellis’s techniques of teaching the hold with PVC pipe when she was about 6 months old.  I then had an instructor at a local kennel club show me a technique which teaching the ‘get it’ and turn around to me really quick part.  This is all coming together pretty well, I think you’ll agree.

http://www.vimeo.com/1611100

The boys started their first day of 2nd grade today.  First of all, they want to know what all the fuss is about dressing nice the first day of school.  They think that’s ‘lame’.  Secondly, Cole thought they were actually starting 3rd grade rather than 2nd grade.  Apparently he thinks time really flies.

Each of the boys’ teachers asked if there was a) something I wanted them to know about my child and b) something my child wanted the teacher to know about them.  I of course put in the usual (i.e., in not so many words: good luck to you, Ms Teacher!) , and I asked each what they wanted their teacher to know about them.

Cole said that he wanted the teacher to know that he doesn’t not know very much about quarters, nickels and dimes.  And, he knows how to write sentences very well, and he really likes Webkinz.

Eric said that he wanted the teacher to know that he is not very good at spelling, he also knows how to write sentences very well (nevermind that he doesn’t know how to spell, mind you), and he also likes Webkinz.

Now, when I get home tonight and ask what happened at school today, I’ll probably get the usual response,: ‘Nothing’. 

I was extremely shocked and saddened to learn last night that LeRoi Moore, saxaphonist for the Dave Matthews Band had passed away unexpectedly.  I have been a huge fan of DMB for years, and my ‘link’ to the band, so to speak, was LeRoi.  I attended high school in Charlottesville, VA and was in LeRoi’s graduating class.  I certainly wasn’t best friends or anything, but we knew each other and shared bus rides.  One day I remember specifically asking him what he was going to do with his life.  He said, ‘play music - that’s all I want to do’.  He told me he was headed that summer to NYC to play on the sidewalks or in the subway or whatever.  I don’t know if that ever happened, but I was always so proud to see him playing up on stage.  I ran into him about 10 years ago at a steak restaurant in Cville on Xmas eve.  I went up to him and asked if he recognized me and he rolled his eyes as if to say, are you kidding?  When I told him who he was he gave me a giant bear hug.  We talked a few minutes, I told him how thrilled I was for his career, I met his mother, and I went back to my table.  I’m so glad I have that memory.  The music will not be the same without him.  RIP, Roi.

We’re back - what a great time we had in New Hampshire at Lake Winnipesauke. The lake has 274 inhabited islands, and it’s just amazing. It’s 25 miles long from end to end, the water is crystal clear. My uncle has a house on Bear Island, one of the largest islands in the lake. You have to (obviously) take a boat to the island, so you need to get what you’re going to need while you’re on the island, b/c otherwise, it’s a pain in the butt to go back to civilization! There’s lots of other houses on Bear Island, along with a YMCA camp at the far end. But everyone is pretty far apart from each other, so it felt very much isolated. We left the dogs at home, but I know Quinna especially would have had an absolute ball. There’s lots of climbing up down and stairs to get to the lake, so it would not have been a good time for Arras’ knee. There were trails over over the island - it was amazing. There were also TONS of mushrooms - they’ve had a very wet season, and omgosh it was a mushroom land! Here are a few of them..

Here’s a video of the kids having fun..

While we were gone, Arras had another girlfriend in town. Tammy Marshall (whose fault it is that I’m in dobermans to begin with) came to do a re-breed to Danni. Danni had a litter around Easter, and they all died.  It was awful.  You can find out more about Danni at the Tammy’s website: www.swiftrundobermans.com. Tammy house-sat for me waiting for Danni’s progesterone to peak, and ended up having to wait out the entire week for Danni’s progesterone to rise. Meanwhile,Tori Gaskill’s Bacarra seems to be pregnant. (www.vonschlottke.com) Tori is hoping to do an ultrasound this week. AND, Arras’ 4 week old puppies are doing great, according to Donna Ackerman. It is great to have such nice bitches coming to Arras. We have one more girlfriend coming in September, Brandi Williams’ Cinder. (see www.masayadobermans.com). If you ever wanted an Arras pup, now is the time to move on it!