Some fans heard that I had a busy weekend & have requested that I post.  Like . . . it's best to get news straight from the SmartAss Bitch's mouth, right?

Well, in April J decided we should go to the EastCoast Silken Windbound Regional Specialty.  She really wants to support ISWS's new Altered Championship track.  Even though I beat Conner at Silkenfest, Conner earned the 1st ISWS ALCh.  Whatever, (IMHO) I could have beat him to it, but J had taken him to more shows recently.  Now she has come to her senses, J wanted to take me.

Neither J nor I particularly like flying to events, but her work does not always cooperate with time off for driving.  I prefer direct flights even if we end up flying into & driving from a city a tad further than necessary from the event.  Airline connections make the crate time longer & fray J's nerves.  For this trip we were supposed to fly into Charlotte, NC rather than Greensboro which was much closer, for example.
The problem?  Well, somehow despite J making our reservation in early April & confirming MY reservation (as checked luggage) on several occasions - even earlier on the date of travel - the airline "forgot" that dogs can't be checked on "Airbus" - at least not the one that flies direct from PDX to Charlotte.  They called her only a few hours before our scheduled departure.  Seriously?????

Their only option was a flight ~7 hours later with a connection in Dallas, TX.  Bonus - it flew into Greensboro which is closer to Siendo, NONbonus?  This arrival was still was 10 hours later than 'planned'.  PLUS our return had to be early Sunday morning; ~8 hours earlier than 'planned' from Charlotte.  No Sunday LGRA for me.  Grrr.  We essentially lost 2 days of visiting with friends.  OK, J got to have dinner with friends  Friday, but did I??????  No, I ate Sojo's at the hotel.
J was SERIOUSLY stressed about our having connecting flights (vs direct).   It did not help when I was kind of 'abandoned' outside the 1st plane while awaiting transport to the connecting plane.  In the pic, there I sit: in front of the hot engine. J was getting a tad hysterical . . .

At the smaller 2nd plane; however, they were careful to put me under a wing for shade, gave me water, & periodically came to check on me (J watched from the window before boarding).  I liked the American Eagle crew much better than the earlier folk.  At Greensboro they actually got me to J & out of the crate faster than she got her luggage.
(note: an earlier crew - maybe even before leaving PDX may have given me water, too)

The next morning it was "Showtime".  ISWS puts Altereds just after the little puppies.  I'm cool with that.  At beauty pageants (aka dog shows), by the end of the day - when its BOB time for the intact hounds), I'm bored to tears & exhausted from boredom.  I am sure I do better getting the poking & prodding done with earlier -- perhaps that's why stupid little Conner managed to beat me at some UKC shows.
My competition for Best Altered Bitch & the Best Altered was tough - Breezy & Ziggy from Texas plus Aiden (Opa's uncle - her mom's brother).  Both Ziggy & Breezy have beaten me on occasion, but I wasn't having THAT today . . . not after the unpleasant travel.  I needed a PRIZE.  Wow, and did I get one? Yes! 2 tough chew toys, a tote, flashy ribbons, & a sassy T-shirt for J (my bitch). I heard a rumor that there's even a win pic from the photographer.  I'll look AWESOME.

 Later I even got to race!!!!  (LOVE IT!) I almost never get to race in Oregon.  OK, maybe this is a little bit my fault - I admit that I can get pissy if being passed.  Just an air snap; that's it; I swear!!  Anyway, this was not an issue here as the LGRA meets were hand-slipped.  J in her "inphenite" wisdom told Keith & Iola to release me LATE.  G*dDamn!  I had to play catch up every time.  In the 1st race I was a touch put off by the leaders getting snippy themselves (both were pretty new to the game), but in the 2nd program I showed them what I can do with proper motivation.  I smoked 'em.  See ya!  In the 3rd program, I was against some real speedsters - so it was NO FAIR that Keith released me late.  I could not catch them with a late start.  Sigh. I could also whine about rain delays, etc ... but it is what it is.  Honestly, I have no idea how I did overall because they stopped running due to lightning & thundershowers.  Actually they only ran "my" 3rd race because they knew J had to leave before they planned to finish the following day. It cleared for a moment & off we went!  I've heard a rumor that I won something -- but I am sure it's not "too" big  as I did not win that last program.

Damn the airlines & their errors, we had to leave this morning - through Dallas, TX.  J was freaking out because the high there was supposed to be >85F - but our connection was early in the day.  Despite, her concerns this trip, at least, was uneventful - but I really needed to poop & pee ASAP upon arrival.