New Year, New Start

I've been away for a while.  Not just from this blog but from the internet- social media, forums, etc.  I've been depressed and stressed out and busy with the holidays.  I'm starting to feel better now and I have some (though much too little) free time on my hands.

Delilah's been good.  We've been continuing with some of her training.  She's doing a little better with strangers in the house (but only when you're actively working with her) and she's nailed the sit-stay and down-stay (unless it is on a cold or hard surface- that doesn't feel good on her petite little body).  I really want to start agility with her this year but I'm going to have to wait until I can afford to spend extra money for classes- I'm trying to save up enough to pay bills right now.

New Year Goals

I'd like to start agility classes with Delilah this year.  Maybe next year our goal will be to compete, but we'll see how she does.  I'd like her to be able to focus better on me, especially off leash, and I think that's one of the things we'd work on in the classes.  She also needs an outlet for her energy and I think she'd have a lot of fun- she loves to move and play!

Behaviorally, I want her to be quiet when there are strangers in the house.  Whether that's in her crate in another room

My own personal goals include pursuing both of my dream jobs and finding a nice place to live.  One of my dream jobs is more of a fantasy and one is more realistic.  I want to be a musician so to pursue that I will be booking more shows for my band this year (hoping for two a month) and writing enough songs to record a full length album (we have about five or six new songs already, we'll need at least six more).  My other dream job is to be a TSA explosives detection canine handler.  I'm hoping to get that job either directly or first becoming a regular TSA officer and working my way up from there.  As for a nice place to live- I'd like somewhere more rural, preferably out in the middle of nowhere.  Cities are so gross, even Burlington.  My car was broken into the other day, probably by a junkie or homeless person.  Nothing was taken because I didn't really have anything valuable in there but it's the last straw.  I want to get out of here.  I want a nice yard for Delilah and some hiking and XC skiing trails on the property or nearby!  I miss nature!

I also want to start painting again.  I did a portrait for the dogforum Secret Santa and I'm doing two more, one of a friend's lab and another of a friend's shelties (one of which has recently passed).  I kind of want to paint a bunch of generic purebred dogs (and maybe some cats and rabbits and other pets) so I can sell the paintings through a local gallery/co-op or at the Farmer's Market or something.

Lastly I want to take guitar lessons again with my old instructor.  I enjoy learning about music theory and I need to practice my technique.  Again, money is the limiting factor here.

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This weekend I'll be getting some pictures from Christmas from my parents' computer so I'll do another post about Delilah's first Christmas and some of the cool things that the animals got from "Santa."

For now we just wanted to let you all know that we're still around and will be posting more frequently after our brief hiatus!