There's No Such Thing As A Sure Thing

I've heard that spring is here...or it's supposed to be anyways. The 2 ft of snow that's still on the ground at home kind of confuses me. lol

I haven't been home in almost 3 weeks. My oldest sister was expecting a baby girl on the 20th of March but the little munchkin decided to come earlier than planned. (She was full term and everything is fine...we just thought we'd have at least another week to bite our nails!). 

A healthy baby girl was born on March 11th at 6:27am, weighed 5lbs 8oz, and measured 18 or so inches long. Her name is Emma Claire and she has two proud older sisters.

I've been at my sister's house helping her out with the baby and her two older girls, ages 5 and 1.  

So that means I haven't seen my dogs in almost 3 WEEKS! I miss them something fierce...

I should be going home after Easter weekend though. 

Although I've had a great time with my family, I will be SO GLAD to see my dogs again and to get back into my "dog routine". I'm sure some or most of the snow will be gone by the time I get back so I'll have to put my sleds away. :(

There's always next year though. If...

They say that you can "never trust a sure thing" and I have found that to be more and more true the longer I walk this earth. I'm at that point in my life where I have to figure out what I'm going to do with the rest of it. 

And at this point,

I'm not entirely sure what I want. 

A while back, my long-term life goal was to run either the Iditarod or the Fur Rondy. I wanted a large kennel in either Alaska or Minnesota, I wanted to train and race competitively, run a tour kennel with the retired/slower/rescue dogs and live the rest of my life as a musher. 

My plans and dreams changed though, as they often do in my seemingly fickle life. I scrapped the Iditarod plans and traded them for dreams of being a professional photographer with a family and a big house on a hill.

Alas, I still haven't made a decision.

I did make a decision a while ago, though, that Jetta would be the last addition to the kennel for a long time. As long as Salsa is still up to it next year, I may have a 5 dog team for the 6 dog class. If she wants to retire though, I will still have a 4 dog team...as long as I can get some focus in to Char and some commands in to Sydney. lol

Yes, I have enough fur balls for now.
Besides, whenever I go into "buy every puppy in sight" mode, my wallet reminds to me to calm the heck down. ;)

Ah well, spring is (supposedly) here so that means there will be a ton of yard/kennel work for me when I finally get home. I will be so distracted by the endless raking, digging, and lifting that I will barely have any time to think about all the decisions I have to make and all the puppies I want to buy... ;)
Plus, IT'S ALMOST TIME TO RIDE! Nothing clears my mind better than taking a horse out into a field and cantering all of my thoughts into the ground.

Me riding Buddy on a moody, end-of-summer day last year. About 1/2 and hour later my friend and I were running back to the barn in a hail storm...

Happy Spring!