Intermediately obedient

Today was the first day of mine and Chance's intermediate obedience class. It was a lot of fun and it felt good to be there. The trainer holds it at a park which is nice and it helps with the training by adding in distractions. Why do distractions help you ask? It is good to work with the dog in that kind of enviroment so when you get out in the real world you know that your dog will respond to your commands no matter what else is going on. The trainer also happens to be the owner of the local kennel/ groomer and she also happens to breed Aussie's. I told her about Katie and we talked about it. I asked her to keep her eyes open for either a blu merle or a red merle girl puppy. We don't want to rush into another dog but I do want another girl like Katie. I know, I know I can't replace her but one of the things that attracted me to her was her coloring. I love the merle color in Aussie's and it's also unique to their breed. I just think it's so beautiful! So I'm feeling better although I'll always miss Katie and no one will ever replace her or Red for that matter. They will forever be in my heart.

In memory

If you live long enough you wil indoubedly loose a beloved pet. If you are fortunate enough to share your lives and heart. Today we lost Katie, named for the little girl that I never got to name Katie. It was kind of an unspoken irony tha I named my dog Katie instead of a little girl. But she shared my heart and life for nine years and never a more loving animal did I know. She was my 'velcro' dog. For those of you who have shared life with a special animla you will understand the term. She was always by my side, wiggling her butt like only an Aussie can. She grinned like only an Aussie can. My heart is a bit more empty and lonely without her already. It sounds cliche but no one will ever replace her and I will truly miss her. So................. to you Katie waiting now at the Rainbow Bridge. With Red and all the others who have left this life. Be well my friend.

Awwwww............

Why is it that no matter where you live it always smells wonderful after it rains? Here even the sage brush smells fantastic. One of the things I liked about moving to Spring Creek was/is how fresh the air is. All of us had problems with the inversons and the yucky air in SLC. It only took 2 weeks for Zac's stuffy nose and cough to go away after moving here. Needless to say we got rain yesterday, actualy thunder and lightening and rain. the storm put on quite a show, lighting up the sky with all the crash, boom, bang that goes along with it. And you guessed it when it came to bedtime Zac declared that the storm was 'freaking me out'. This of course came after an evening of watching the storm with Mom & Dad. I finaly got him to stay in bed and got to sleep myself. I had to be up at 2:30 Am for work and Rick started his new earlier schedule yesterday which has him up at 3:30 AM. He grumbled about it last night trying to get to bed an hour earlier. Some bright idiot at the mine decided that everyone should get there at the same time so they set Rick's shedule back an hour. He of course will get used to it but as that stupid 'vonage' commercial goes change is hard.

Haul truck vs. Bus

I thought I'd give you a peak as to what I've been doing the last few weeks. Driving on the mine sites is very interesting. This pic was taken by my general manger to give folks an idea of just how big haul trucks are. If you grew up in Utah and took one of the Kennecott Copper field trips you might remember seeing a haul truck during your tour. But nothing can compare to driving next to or behind one. They are humongous! And you would think that being so large they would have lots of lights on them to light them up when it's dark? Nope. They have four headlights in front and two taillights in back. That's it. And when you come upon one of them in the dark it is very deceptive they look tiny but they are not. They will drive over you and never even feel it. During training we watched videos of haul trucks driving over various other vehicles and it's like watching a pancake flatten. Quite the eye opener. So think of me next time you go out for a drive in your minivan or are running errands!

Just a quick check in........

Hey ho to one and all. Just thought I'd let the masses know that we are still here and kicking ( and screaming) The last week has pretty much been sleeping and driving and sleeping and driving. It's fun going to the different mine sites and experiencing the mining atmosphere. I got a migraine wed. night that lasted all the way till thurs. night and then again yesterday that kept me down and out. Migraines just suck. If you ever had one you would completely understand. So today I feel almost human again and am eager to get on with life. So off we go to tues. and what it holds in store.

Still here and still driving

Ok so it's been a few days again. It seems like all I've been doing is drive and try to catch up on my sleep. I did take the weekend off to spend with Rick and Zac. I figured if Rick was taking his 3 day weekend so was I. That's one of the upsides of substituting. I get to pick when I don't want to work and I was really burned out from the week. So Fri. night after Rick and I were finished we took Zac into Elko to see the fireworks. It was a really great show! Then we slept in sat. Yea! and Sunday we took the boat out on Southfork Reservoir and had a really nice afternoon floating around the lake. It's not really big but it's close to home (only 15 min. away) So it's a good option if you want a 'spur of the moment' trip. Zac took one of his friends with us and they had a fun time playing in the water and floating off the back of the boat. They used ropes to not drift too far. Can you believe I didn't take any pic's? Oh well next time. So now it's off to bed for me so I can get up at 2:15 AM to take the Gold Quarry truck shop guys. At least I'll be done by about 7:30 or 8:00 AM. It's the trade off of driving for KT. I'll try to check in more often but I hate to be redundant.