off again

hi,
my man is off again. Not "off" as in "the milk is turned", but "gone" as in "flew the coop". Marshall is on another around the world trip in 8 days. Yes, he's busy racking up the air mile points for me. What a guy! Last night he left for Singapore and then he hits India, back home next Sunday. The poor man had barely enough time to get his body clock turned around from our recent excursion to Asia and now he's going to have to flip himself over again. This isn't easy. I really feel sorry for him having to do this much travel, back-to-back. I do know that he gets to stay in lovely hotels (most of the time) and eat great food so it's not total torture, but he misses his own bed and his big screen TV.... and I like to think he misses me a little too but I think I take second place to the TV.

I have my work cut out here as well. Swimming lessons are back in full swing. My dance card is full and that keeps me out of trouble. The garden and pond fill up the rest of my time. It's time to start pulling out dead stuff from the beds... and since I was away for 2 weeks, there is a ton of dead stuff to deal with. I have gardened myself out this year but the season seems to go on until the end of November in this state. It's a much longer season than I'm used to. Toronto's growing lasts from June to September, here it's from April to November. Those extra 3 months make it feel like I've been weeding for an eternity. Why do the weeds do better than my plants? Why can't they make a whole airplane out the the same material as the black box that survives the crashes.... things that I wonder about late at night.

Yesterday I went with our neighbours, Kim & Jean, to a dog agility course competition up in New Jersey. It was a riot watching the people and their pets run these obstacle courses. I'm not sure which was funnier: the dogs having the time of their life, or the frustrated owners trying to get a blue ribbon. These people take this agility training very seriously but someone has neglected to explain to the dogs that it is life or death if they don't make it through those weave poles or over the rails without knocking them down. The dogs are woofing & wagging, the owners are sweating & swearing..... who's the stupid mammal in this pack? The dogs are a full gamut of breeds and sizes. The American Kennel Club has also opened up the competition to the new breed of "All American ", better known as your classic "mutt". Jean has an All American named Bella. She's part Whippet, Mexican Hairless, Labrador, Pointer and God only knows what, but she's smart and has a great personality. Bella was completely non-phased by the other dogs or all the hoopla going on, a true professional. Jean was a nervous wreck preparing for their run of the course, Bella didn't even look to size up the competition. Dog & owner did great on the course, no ribbon but they didn't get disqualified or do anything totally silly. Bella got a handful of treats and Jeans blood pressure went back to normal. Kim & I were there for moral support, cheering section and water bottle holding. Who knew that an afternoon of watching dogs perform could make one so thirsty? I think they need to set up a martini bar so the owners can chill out. They do have blow-up swimming pools for the dogs to cool down in after their runs, fair is fair.

Today I'm going to my Yoga class then for a bike ride with my neighbour, Kim. Gardening will have to wait until tomorrow.... the weeds aren't going anywhere and it's too beautiful out to do chores. I'm off....

xox
m