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Massey Monday: In the Grass

A few shots of the little birder in the grass. Beth and I had just gotten home after a half-day of cycling races. Massey and I had been for a run in the morning before the races so she was pretty relaxed. Fortunately, that didn't stop her from having a good time laying in the grass and modeling for me (and a bit of ball). I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story...

Note: The close up was taken without looking through the viewfinder. I was chasing her around the yard with the camera in hand and just happened to hold it low and click it off about 12 inches from her. One of my better ones of her to-date.

Massey Monday: Navigator

There's something about this dog and a car ride. She loves a long road trip just the same as a 5-minute ride to the market. And she watches the road like its her job the whole time.

This image was made with my old Canon Elan 7E and Kodak Tri-X 400 film. Same round of film shooting as detailed in this Thirsty Thursday post a few weeks ago.

MFT - Day 2 and 3

Not much of a blog here...just days 2 and 3 after her recovery.  After a somewhat lazy first day back, she's back on form.

The Mas Is Back

The Mas (a.k.a. Massey) has been out of commission for the last couple of weeks...which means we've had a very energetic puppy for a while.  Let me explain the details of her injury. We were out running at Creekside; or should I say, I was out running at Creekside and she was exploring the fields in front, behind, and all around me.  Everything was just fine until we got back home and I was doing the normal "tick check" and found she had a nice 1/4" gash on her chest.  She seemed not to notice of course.  Unfortunately, after giving her a bath, the cut wasn't going to close without assistance.  Thus, we had to take the poor little thing to the vet for a staple.  The staple meant no running...which did not go over well with her.  Take a look at these photos to understand...pure joy...they are from previous runs (before the two week intermission).

Fortunately, everything has healed and she is good to go.  She had the staple removed (rather it fell out) last Thursday.  We like to think she willed it out of her body so she could go running again.  Here are just a couple of shots from her run today...suffice it to say, she was a bit out of shape.  But really, that doesn't matter to her...she just loves being out there.

Merry Christmas from the Dog

Massey wanted to feel festive yesterday, so she found herself some green and red. Then she said "woof woof woof" which loosely translates to "Happy Christmas."

She later informed Mom and Dad that we shouldn't cut the grass when its so wet.

Mornings at the Beach

We love our dog. She's great...total sweetheart who always wants to play with one of us. But she hasn't adjusted her internal clock to Pacific time just yet...she still 2 hours off in Central time. So every morning at roughly 5:45 she's had enough of stealing all the space at the end of the bed where our feet should be and is ready to start her day--which must start with a trip outside to see if the random cat is still there. Usually by 6:30 Terry groans something about "lay down Massey" and I end up taking her out. And then shortly after Terry heads out the door an hour later (and a few "is he ever coming back?" whimpers from the dog), I can't take her hyperness anymore and we have to go for a run. Today we went to the beach. The beach and the ocean are 2 very different things to this dog. The beach is endless miles of running and birds, birds, birds and sand and awesomeness. The ocean is cold and scary and that water keeps sneaking up on me and trying to get me wet and is so unawesome. Hilarious to watch. Here are a few quick snaps from this morning's stroll...since I said I would post more photos this week.

Don't worry...once I get caught up on my Flickr POTD posting today, I'll throw a few photo essays up from our 2050-mi road trip from Lousyana to Cali. And maybe some from Leadville, too. Patience my friends, patience...housewifing is hard work.

Well Hello

I see that I sucked at blogging in 2009. It was a crazy busy year...moved away from Monterey and Terry to Lousyana, bought a house, settled in to a crazy busy job, confirmed on too many occasions that I hate road racing, tried to race elite cyclocross in a place with no cyclocross, and battled a few million mosquitoes and spiders. Maybe I didn't blog much because I spent much of the year bitter and/or frustrated with being away from Terry or struggling with cycling or just burnt out from my job, and I didn't want that funk on my blog. So, while I hate the idea of New Years resolutions, it is a time for a fresh start, so let's fire this bad boy back up and start sharing some photos and fun stuff. We have a plan to do the photo/day thing, so watch Flickr for that... One of the highlights of the year was a little addition to our family. I went to a cx race in Ft Worth in November and came home with a puppy! I'd been wanting a brittany spaniel for awhile, but Terry was vehemently against having a dog. He claimed allergies. I grew up always having at least one dog around the farm, and normally we had 2 or 3. My dad used to hunt pheasants and quail with his brittanies, and I love the breed's demeanor and spunk. I found a litter advertised in the Dallas paper, so after my ridiculously poor showing at the cx race, I headed out to find a puppy. I ended up with a preciously little girl I named Massey, after the Massey-Ferguson tractor that was on the farm where I bought her. It was nice to have another warm body in the house and something to keep me busy/entertained after work. But Terry was not happy. He was pretty upset that I got a dog. Yes, I was in the doghouse over this one. But she was so cute...

I went home to Iowa for Thanksgiving, raced my first UCI event at Jingle Cross Rock in Iowa City (yes, Meredith Miller lapped me), and Massey came along. Everyone loved her.  She was just so cute and traveled really well. But Terry was still grumpy about it. Despite being all the way in Monterey and not having met her, he was convinced that all dogs are the devil. Finally, Terry graduated and came home for the holidays. He met Massey and fell in love! Now every time we go out he has to check out the dog treats and toys aisle to see if there's something else he can get to spoil his little girl a little more. She follows him around the house. He totally pampers her. We are now a happy family of 3. And be warned...you may see lots of adorable doggy pics in 2010.