2019: 365 new opportunities

I’ve seen the phrase/quote/cartoon: “What will 2019 bring us?” … “365 opportunities”. And a tagline attached: “You own your happiness”.

Part of me wants to say “Enough said !!!” We’ll see how much I have to say, though :).

For me, this is about both perspective and being aware of what I want and don’t want in my life. Naturally, not everything is controllable, but there is a lot that I can control … or maybe better words are that there a lot of things I am able to make a choice about.

I’ve made many choices about where I live, how I live, how I spend my time. There are consequences to all of those choices and for the most part, I’ve always been clear on what those are and accepted them. I am a glass half full person and even during challenging times, I tend toward the positive. Part of this is a lot of life experience in the good things that I’ve experienced during the difficult times.

It is almost a year since I let Bear go. Last Christmas and New Year’s … I knew his time was short and also that if not for my “work at home situation”, I might have had to make the decision earlier. But I had the luxury to wait until it was clear that his ratio of joy to discomfort was heavy on the discomfort side and it was time to let him go.

This Christmas, I had the joy of Emmett’s first Christmas combined with the antics of Auggie. My little Christmas tree hit the floor once and there was a second episode of Auggie batting some decorations TO Emmett or AT Emmett … not clear which, but they both seemed to be having a good time. Ultimately, all items were rescued with no damage.

Meanwhile, post-Christmas, as we approached the New Year … “365 Opportunities” started appearing. Additionally, a food blogger I follow, wrote a New Year’s post ending with: “So tell me … Did you learn how to cook anything new this year?” Well, YES!! So much fun to answer as well as read others’ responses.

My new cooking things: upping my sourdough game to include sweet things (donuts, sweet rolls). I made graham crackers for the first time. I continue to use the Instant Pot electric pressure cooker more and more: this year it was “layered” items (eggs and potatoes, rice and beans).

Thinking about what new things I learned to cook got me thinking about other new things I learned.

My work as a computer programmer absolutely requires constant learning. There are forever new problems to be solved in new ways and I LOVE that aspect of my work.

As I looked to Emmett’s arrival and knew I was going to teach and train with positive reinforcement/clicker training methods, I dove into books and YouTube and everything I could find to get prepared. I continue to learn more every day. For me, it is not only fun, but requires some agile thinking and planning to “try” to teach what I want him to learn vs accidentally teaching something I didn’t quite mean for him to learn. Fortunately, we all seem to have a sense of humor!

Photography. Hah! This kind of morphs with technology in general. And Smartphones.

I was a Blackberry user from the get go … the first kind of smart phone. The email push technology allowed me, as a consultant, to be available when I was not sitting in front of my computer.

And then, my first “touch” phone – an Android Thunderbolt.

A Windows Phone and although not the first phone with a camera, it was the start of using a phone as camera more often.

And in mid 2016 an iPhone. I bought the iPhone 6s Plus as a backup to my Windows Phone. I had abandoned a land line several years prior and then, as I was in my 60’s … thought that maybe I should have a back up option for emergencies. I decided to try the iPhone out of curiosity. Turns out, I LOVED it and it worked better with my Windows Computer than my Windows Phone.

Fast forward … an iPad replaced a Windows Tablet. I swapped the phone numbers for my Windows phone with my iPhone, making the iPhone my primary.

*****a bit of infomercial here. It is sometimes “popular” to vilify smart phones based on how some people use them. Any technological device is a just that … a device aka a tool. It is inherent on the owner of the tool to use that tool wisely. The tool is not responsible for irresponsible use by the tool’s owner. If “we” believe ourselves to be so weak and/or uneducated so as to use a tool badly, well… ***** and back to our regularly scheduled programming!

2018 Black Friday … I traded the 6S Plus for a XS Max AND a series 4 Apple Watch – LOTS of incentives – YEA! I was in the middle of a work “crisis” with no time to really “learn” either. But, the transition and setup went so well, it was not an issue: turn them on, access my wifi and let them set themselves up. There were a few times with the watch where I took a few minutes and “googled” a how to. But, by my Christmas “break”, I was pretty comfortable with both devices and considering I had only some background learning … good grief!

Part of my incentive to upgrade was the XS Max camera. I’d been using the 6S Plus and Instagram and LOVING the photos from the phone as well as the instant posting on Instagram. I loved the paradigm so much that my DSLR sat home a lot. The phone, albeit a largish phone, in my pocket vs the large camera … more and more photos from the phone. The XS Max … light years ahead, slightly larger screen in a slightly smaller unit and no regrets about the upgrade.

BUT, the primary point is … the learning of NEW things.

I love my grandmother Ruth (5/1910 – 11/1996). But as she aged, she often said “Not at this stage of the game”. It made me sad. I VOWED that I would NEVER say such a thing or stop being willing to learn and use new things.

Just this past week, I read an article about seniors and technology. I am 63. In most circumstances, I am considered “a senior”. Anyway, the article “spoke” about “seniors” having the $$ for devices as well as the benefit some of the devices have for seniors.

Well :)

The article detailed some benefits of the series 4 Apple Watch: ECG (1 lead EKG), Fall detection. Oh, yes! I have both set up and they were both part of my upgrade decision.

So.

Cheers to 2019.

Cheers to 365 opportunities to learn new things, to experience new Joy, to LIVE.

Emmett 5 stars, Me 2 1/2 stars

I video Emmett and me on occasion to correct (hopefully) my timing and to see where I’m being confusing and generally to audit myself as teacher. I am VERY fortunate that despite my mistakes, Emmett is doing well and learns quickly.

This morning’s entire session was just under 4 minutes. I edited out some of the beginning camera adjusting and some shots of my backside (I don’t go out in public like this!!! – my winter jacket is knee length) that you can be thankful, you didn’t see :)

This morning, we were going to go to class, but I got late and decided to regroup for a class tomorrow. We did some “wait” and “recall” train and play outside and then came in and I decided to use what would have been class time to video some things inside and see how I was doing. Gah. Well, the video is so helpful in seeing my issues.

Clicker training is a positive reinforcement/operant conditioning training that uses a click, followed by a treat to teach behaviors. As the behavior is learned, the clicking and treating is reduced and ultimately eliminated, unless training a new behavior. You can see in the video, that I do not click/treat the sit. Emmett has known sit since he was 7 weeks old so click-treat is not needed. I will however, click-treat if I ask for a sit in a highly distracting situation and I get the behavior.

I, as do so many, once thought “clicker training” was a gimmick. I have learned that not only is it not a gimmick, but there is scientific evidence to show that things happen in the brain with the click, a recurring marker sound or word and reinforcement with a valued resource. It works with animals AND people. Many athletes and athletic trainers use a form of clicker training to mark positions and help shape optimal positioning. If you are interested in how the brain works and how operant conditioning works, it is fascinating. Reaching the Animal Mind by Karen Pryor is a fun and excellent source of explanation.

Back to Emmett and me and our morning’s video. We started with some things we know and in the middle, I brought out a large ball. It is a workout ball that I use for stretching as well as a “bench” for strength training. I recently read about Treibball. Per Wikipedia:

Treibball is a positive-reinforcement, competitive dog sport which originated in Germany and entered sanctioned competition in 2008. The dog must gather and drive large exercise balls into a soccer goal.

Essentially, it is a way for dogs to “herd” when they don’t have animals to herd. I thought to try with Emmett. I’ve thought of trying agility as well as nose work, but when I saw Treiball, it appealed because I have a ball, we can do it inside or outside and it seemed fun. Plus, Emmett is an English Shepherd, i.e. a herding dog.

Some of the info I read noted that ball crazy dogs had a more difficult time than non ball crazy dogs. Emmett is not ball crazy. Tennis balls are meh. Sticks … YES!, his Wubba toy YES! Hence the big ball. I started letting him nose it and click-treating when he touched it. That’s mostly what you’ll see in the video. There is one time where I click twice and kind of shower the treats because he kept nosing the ball, i.e. moving it. Another time, I released him from a “Wait” to get the Wubba that I’d thrown, but he nosed the ball on the way … my mistake of confusing direction so I click treated the ball touch and we redid the “go get it”.

The foundation of positive reinforcement training is building trust and relationship. There is no punishment for “incorrect” behavior. Incorrect behavior is not rewarded. Inappropriate behavior is redirected and the redirected “good” behavior is rewarded. “Do this, not that” is the metaphor. A “no” is not clear instruction.

Has it all been “peaches and cream” … not at all, but it HAS been a much happier experience than any I’ve had training a puppy and I think I’ll eventually learn :)

Holiday Food Fun

Merry Christmas!

We are having a wonderful Christmas Day! It is gray and overcast with occasional flurries, so once again a perfect day to cozy up inside or bundle up and go out to play.

I have a Christmas music playlist that is classic versions of the hymn like carols as well as some of the Hallelujah chorus so we kept an ear on the reason for the season :)

So, food!! Right around Thanksgiving, I gathered various baking supplies to start making some Christmas favorites. But the work thing got in the way and NOTHING, not a single Christmas cookie, was made.

Friday night, when I turned off the computer and officially started my holiday time off, I made a list:

All summer, off and on, I was craving Boston Cream Pie or eclairs … similar flavors. I had decided as the work week was ending that I’d make eclairs as I had time to make the choux pastry and cream and put it all together. As I was looking for a recipe, I came across the recipe for an Éclair cake: an ice box cake with layers of graham crackers and vanilla pudding, topped with Chocolate ganache. I remembered there was a recipe for graham crackers on Smitten Kitchen that was in the back of my mind to try. In addition to no unpronounceable ingredients, I used about 1/3 whole wheat pastry flour AND reduced the sugar a wee bit.

So – homemade graham crackers and homemade vanilla pudding lightened with stabilized whipped cream happened on Saturday. As a note to myself, I “rolled” the graham crackers like I roll the sourdough crackers I make: using my pasta roller. I thought the grahams would be softish and I could cut the baked irregular shapes. BUT, they were crisp and it was a bit of a mess getting them cut to fit. Next time, I’ll roll with a rolling pin and cut square. Flavor is wonderful and I will not be buying graham crackers again. Plus, easy!!

I made a small loaf sized version of the Éclair cake to see how all went together. I hoped that the irregular crackers would soften in the cream and all hold together but I thought if it was a mess, I’d remake the graham crackers. But all was well, so on Sunday I carried on!

Very good, hits all of the éclair buttons and I have more in the freezer when the craving hits again!

After tasting and re-tasting the eclair cake, sugar cookies kind of lost their appeal. And even though I knew it would be another very sweet thing, I saw Smitten Kitchen’s Baklava Babka and thus revised the remainder of my list:

The dough looked very like the brioche dough that is the basis for doughnuts and cinnamon rolls. And I’ve made both of those with a sweet, stiff sourdough starter … so I went sourdough/natural leaven for the recipe.

Sunday night I mixed the sweet starter: 90 grams flour, 20 grams brown sugar, 40 grams water and 25 grams of my sourdough starter. By Monday morning, it was nice and bubbly. I added the remainder of the recipe ingredients, adjusted for the starter, mixed and put it in the refrigerator for a long, cold ferment.

This morning, I got the dough out, let it warm up, prepared the filling, rolled and shaped. I wanted to make a pretty round like the Smitten Kitchen’s Baklava Babka , vs 2 loaves but I don’t have a tube pan.

Emmett helped me look for alternatives.

We settled on a springform pan with foil wadded up to hold the center open.

Fortunately, I followed Smitten Kitchen’s suggestion to cut off the ends of the rolls and bake those with the filling that spills out when you shape the babka. I say fortunately, because I baked those first and then got to eat some while waiting for the main event. The house smelled so good, it would have been torture to wait without a taste!

The Baklava Babka! Mine is probably less baklava-like than Smitten Kitchen’s as my dough got puffier and I probably did not roll it as thin – next time.

It is wonderful. Very sweet and thankfully it will freeze well as I’m about done with sweet. It is also a candidate for bread pudding and/or French toast :)

Spinach dip and Cranberry salsa remain on my list, but right now … believe it or not … I am not hungry!

Emmett says Merry Christmas and thank you Santa for the good chew!

Auggie says Merry Christmas, also and is thankful that Emmett is growing up and being less of a pain! (mostly…)

Christmas Eve Day: my favorite day of the year!

Christmas Eve Day. A day full of excitement, anticipation, joy and just my favorite day of the year! Most of this love of the day stems from the idyllic times of my childhood. And even though, I now enjoy the holiday on my own with my pets, it is still a most favorite day filled with remembrance and just general joie de vivre!

This year, I am especially enjoying the day. For the last 3.5 weeks my work life has been INTENSE. A series of circumstance pushed a deadline forward and the programming team had to go into serious overdrive. As I commented to another: “a tough schedule for an old broad” (ME!). We delivered at the last moment on Friday and although we will probably do some firefighting in January, mostly it was mission accomplished.

The thought of a good amount of downtime over the holiday break kept me going. Also the necessary breaks to walk/play/snuggle with Auggie and Emmett. Often, when I thought I couldn’t possibly stop, but knew I must for them … the time with them, mostly outside in the fresh air, allowed me to come back to work with a fresh perspective and get a 2nd, 3rd and 4th wind!

Ultimately, as challenging as the pace was, there was also an incredible feeling of accomplishment as well as the comradery of working with a team that I respect and enjoy. So. Job.Well.Done. and now we enjoy before the next stage.

Saturday was sunny and bright and although lacking in snow, it was a perfect day for a run to town to gather a few things I wanted, before a spell of Winter Weather arrived.

Saturday … a day with no work and pretty weather was just “ahhhhh”. And I slept so well Saturday night with NO programming conundrums disturbing my dreams. So, Sunday, was a day of relaxing and anticipation.

Now, here we are on Christmas Eve Day… but wait … some fun from last week:

In illustration of why, once again, we do not have a “real” Christmas tree…

No harm done to the little silk tree.

Auggie’s wound has closed with no issue.


I don’t know, but it was funny!

This morning’s most perfect fire in the woodstove!

It was a gray day – perfect for enjoying inside, but we also got outside!

A wonderful day.

Inside.

Outside.

Christmas music in the background.

Joy.

Christmas Eve Day.

Emmett is 10 months old!

A quick “Happy 10 months” to Mr. Emmett post and some Auggie news … (all is well, but a warning that there are some graphic images!!)

AND, if you follow my Instagram stories … repeats, but the schedule has been overfull lately.

Yes, Emmett is 10 months old and has been part of the fambly for 8 months – unbelievable!!

Still has a blonde bottom and gorgeous tail feathers :)

Meanwhile…

Auggie came in Monday afternoon with a kind of spectacular wound. We got right into the vet – fortunately 15 minutes away in Bigfork. After a shave, cleanup and antibiotic shot, we came home.

Auggie was pretty sanguine about the whole thing and has been complaining about my enforcement of inside time. My reply is: “You MAY NOT go outside with a hole in your head!”

Honestly, inside is not that bad.

And Emmett … good grief, he is 10 months old.