2025

1-1-25/1-14-25 Well hell! I promise, I did start my 2025 blog on January 1st but when looking at it today (1-14) and trying to make a minor wording change, a fat-finger mishap deleted all of my posts so far and even though I DID NOT publish any changes, everything was lost. So here I start again and will have to try and remember my topics so far this year. Good thing it's only the 14th day! I know I started off mentioning about our annual sibling Christmas party/gift exchange which was held on 12/31/24. It was a nice time hosted again by Jim and Duffy at their always beautifully decorated house. A Cure 81 spiral sliced ham was the main course for dinner served with a yummy array of side dishes and sweets brought and shared by each of us siblings. Gifts were shared playing a gift giving game; I received a very cushy blanket (from Virgie) and Jim ended up with a selection of different candies (from brother Jim). We were home by 10:30 and after a short playtime with the puppies, I rang in the new year asleep in bed.

1-3-25 Amber & Dolly had a vet appointment today for shots and we took Penny along as well for a wellness check up because of some illness going through the litter causing lack of appetite and just not being the rambunctious puppies they've always been. Nothing was found wrong with Penny and the vet attributed it to likely being just a little virus going through each of them. I asked for an appetite stimulant to hopefully get them eating again and though it helped, I wasn't completely comfortable with their progress until a few days to a week later when I could confidently say they were all back to their normal selves. Also at this vet visit I finally had the chance to have them check out the lump that was on Dolly's back. I was so relieved when the vet instantly recognized it as being a harmless cyst (don't remember the actual name of it). She drained some of the pus like liquid out of it and said the only way to totally get rid of it was surgery. Knowing it is nothing to worry about we decided to wait and possibly do that whenever she has a dental done. Other than that, she and Amber are doing well. It's hard to believe that in just a few short weeks the puppies (now at 8 weeks old) will be at the age that they could go to new homes. However, I haven't offered the girls to anyone yet hoping for a show prospect and Bravo though he has a home, won't be leaving til mid April, so it may be a while before any of them leave. My pick of the litter PIPER is still just under 2 lbs and I am beginning to doubt she will get to a good breeding/show adult size, but not giving up just yet. She is actually my worrisome pup, likely because I worry when I don't see her seeming to eat enough and her weight gain has been slim to none. She will likely stay here a while show pup or not, because of her small size. I want to be sure she is completely healthy and growing.

1-8-25 Happy BIRTH-day to my first great-grandchild!! Today was the day that Emily had her baby boy. Her water started "leaking" the day/night before (on the 7th) and she texted me that evening around 10pm that she thought she would be going to the hospital, letting me know because we had made plans earlier to visit her dad the next day. In the morning, her mom Beth called me to let me know that they were at the hospital, Emily was dilated to 3cm, so there would still be a bit of a wait. Being at home waiting was hard, so I texted Beth mid day to get an update. Dilated to 7, progress was slow and baby was getting stressed some so they were trying different things to move things along. Around 5:30, Beth called to let us know that because labor seemed to have stalled (still at 7cm) and because baby was stressed they decided a c-section was the best option at this point. Karsen Tyrell Nieman-Bennamon was born at 6:29 pm healthy, & weighing 7 lb 1 oz! First pictures showed us he was a beautiful baby with a head full of dark hair. Jim and I went to the hospital to see him and Emily the next day and I was thrilled that we were also able to get Montclair to transport Matt there as well so that he could see/meet his grandson. It was obvious how happy Matt was as I watched him holding and talking to Karsen. I loved holding Karsen as well; it has been at least 10 years since there's been a baby in the family (Gage). It was a very happy day for sure.

1/21/25 Puppy news mostly in this post. They are now 10 weeks old and all doing very well. I made the decision to let Phoebe go to a pet home and offered her to a lady in Florida that has a pup from Dolly's "N" litter (Nikki, now Gracie). She had emailed me last year about being ready for a playmate for Gracie. At first, hearing that Phoebe might get to be 7 or 8 lbs she thought maybe she would need a pup that would be closer to Gracie's size (5 lbs), but after I told her that I thought a couple of pounds wouldn't matter and that after checking Gracie's size at 12 weeks & seeing that she herself was charting 8 lbs, she decided to adopt Phoebe after all. So, a deposit was sent and Phoebe's Gotcha Day is set up for January 31st. With Bravo also sold (gotcha day to be determined) that leaves Penny and Piper. I'm still holding on to the hope that Piper will grow enough to hold on to for show & breeding. At 10 weeks old she was barely 2 lbs but she definitely seems to be filling out a bit and I see her eating more regularly now. I'm hoping that the little bug they all had a couple of weeks ago slowed her growth down a bit and she just needs to "catch up". Time will tell. Not sure why I'm still holding on to Penny. Truthfully I don't want to keep one myself this time, and certainly not two of them. I think my hesitation is whether or not I should offer her as a show prospect. Conformation-wise for now she looks okay, though a few weeks ago I wondered if she was going to be short-legged. Also the coloring on her face I think will stay darker and the tan she does have is closer to Winston's coloring so I'm not sure how well it will show. This is what's holding me back from offering her as a show prospect. I would like to find her a home soon either way and do have people waiting that may want her.

1-28 The pups went in for the 2nd set of shots this morning; all are healthy & doing well. After talking with Sharon Paggi (Phoebe's buyer) about Phoebe's ears giving me a bit of trouble keeping them up; I decided to ask the vet to check for a possible ear infection as being the reason. She did find that she had some yeast build up and prescribed drops for her ears. I'm hoping this will help and/or that her ears won't give Sharon any trouble once she is there. Sharon mentioned that she hated sounding picky but did want erect ears; talking with her I explained that I didn't see any reason why Phoebe's ears wouldn't stand, that they may just need some extra TLC in training them to stay that way, but that I couldn't guarantee anything. I did offer to bring Penny along to the airport so that if she was too concerned she could choose between the two girls after seeing them in person. It seems she does prefer Phoebe's lighter coloring . . . IMO in choosing Penny she would have a pup that looks very similar to Gracie. After the vet appointment today I am more confident that Phoebe's ears will be okay; fingers crossed. I also spoke with Bravo's new mom, Jolie and it looks like they will be driving here on Sunday to pick him up. I am very happy to know that two of the four will be leaving this weekend. Two down, and what to do with the other two. Well, really one since Piper will probably stay until she turns 6 months old at least, holding out hope that she will get to a good size for show AND breeding. Penny I am ready to find a home for so it's just a matter of who.

2/2 And we're down to two . . . . . puppies that is. Bravo and Phoebe went to their forever homes this past weekend. I met Sharon Paggi at the airport on Friday with Phoebe; she was instantly smitten with her and was excited to get her home to Florida to meet her older sister Gracie (Nikki from Dolly's N litter). Have not heard anything from her yet but will check in with them after the weekend giving them time to get acclimated. Yesterday (Saturday), Bravo's new mommy (Jolie Graybill) and her husband drove in from Horace, ND to pick him up. They too seemed to love him right away (as well as the rest of our furry crew). After their 6 hour drive back home, I got a text from Jolie letting me know that they got home and that Bravo was doing well. With both Phoebe and Bravo settled it is time to think about Penny and Piper. I was happy to see when I took their 12 week weights that Piper was up to 2 lb, 11 oz and charting to be near 6 lbs as an adult. I'm hoping that holds true and with that she will be staying with us for the time being. Penny will be going to a pet home; I do have at least one application that I can contact the person to see if they might be interested, so hopefully she will be in her forever home before too long.

Being February, we are into the start of dog shows with the first one coming up Feb 15-16 in Des Moines. There are 8 Biewers entered; myself with 2, Christine with 1, Victoria with 1, and I am guessing the other 4 might be Valerie (and Kathy), and possibly Daryl Martin. I'm still a little bummed about the whole show thing since the last show with the politics of Daryl, a professional handler seeming to win every time she's there, and the crappy looking male winning over Oscar. That, and the fact that Amber still does not walk well makes it stressful to show her. That is at least partially on me for not working with her. The long drives and expense of going to shows seems just not worth it when stuff like that happens. The show coming up may be just as disappointing so we'll see if my feelings about dog showing perks up. I hope so.

On a family note, that darn Emily . . . . I just don't understand why she is so distant. Loving and friendly when we do see or talk with her, but communication (especially) and visits are extremely lacking. I just don't get it; maybe if I did understand it wouldn't make me so mad, sad, worried; basically don't know what to think or feel. The old saying "actions speak louder than words" certainly holds true here. 2/3 I talked with Matt yesterday, the same lack of communication from Emily for him is even more disappointing with him being the Grandpa of that sweet baby of hers. No excuse IMO for her not to call, text, and/or send pictures of Karsen. It only takes a minute and easy to do with the phones these days.. I bought and took Matt a t-shirt that has "Grandpa, EST 2025" on it and he liked it a lot; I'm glad he at least has that. He did say that he has talked with Beth and she has seen and talked with Emily (going to her apartment to visit). She says Karsen is "so cute, and she loves him", and that Emily is very tired with Karsen's sleep schedule not being a good one. Yes, being a first time mom to a new baby is hard and sleep deprivation is real but still no reason for the lack of communication with her dad and completely ignoring text messages from me. I'm not asking for a long conversation, just a reply. OH, and when I mentioned something about Emily editing her post on FB about the baby shower getting a different date though none was mentioned, Matt told me that Beth said something about the 23rd???? Again, I have heard nothing about it; who's hosting, will invites go out, heck am I even invited?????, and guess it is not to be extended to Karsen's great, great aunts. Okay, I'm getting a little bitchy, but that's what lack of communication and the unknown does to a person. Done venting for now . . . . . . . .

2-7 Keeping my fingers crossed that Penny has a new home to go to. Jolie (Bravo's new mom) took him to work with her the other day and after others there seeing him, one of her co-workers fell in love enough to express interest in adopting Penny. She sent the application from my website and in communication back and forth said that she and her husband wanted to move forward with the adoption process. Yay! I asked her to then give me a call to talk, get to know another a bit more and ask/answer any question either of us has. When she called, on speaker with her husband, and my first words were "so you want to adopt Penny", they but the brakes on a bit and said this conversation was for the questions and that they wanted to then discuss it some more after getting information, feeling the decision to adopt came up very quick, so they just want to make sure it is the right decision, the right time, etc. Ugh, I get it but to go from "ready to move forward" to let us discuss it some more, it's just a little disappointing. Like I said, I'm hoping and praying they come back wanting to definitely move forward in adopting her. Penny (and I) are so forward to getting her into a new home . . . . .her age, it's time. At this point I have no other interested parties (except MAYBE the lady that wanted me to hold her until April). I suppose if this doesn't work out I will check back with her even though that is two months away.

2-9 Well heck, the young couple initially interested in Penny changed their minds and decided it was not the right time (financially) to get a new puppy, so we're back to square one. I had one other person message me on FB, but so far they have not proceeded further after our initial conversation. Getting close to going back to the people that emailed me back in November wanting a puppy in the spring to see if they are still interested. Even though they didn't want to take possession until April, at least I'd have her sold.

We visited with Matt yesterday and he told us that Emily and Karsen visited him the day before and supposedly will be coming back again this morning; from what I could gather it sounded like maybe she had a job interview today; on a Sunday????? I asked Matt to let me know if/when they came; so that I could come see them, so we'll see.

The Des Moines dog show is next weekend; hoping to get there. Snow is in the forecast two days this week, one being on Friday when we would be leaving for Des Moines

2-12 It's a Snow Day today; our first major snow of the season! 3-5 inches predicted of the light fluffy snow. It started overnight; not sure how much is on the ground or what we will end up with. The snow falling is very light, not big flakes at all, so it doesn't look like much but there is plenty on the ground so it certainly has been accumulating. Trying to decide if we will venture out to visit with Matt today or not. We did see him on Monday; I actually got a text from Emily; and she said that she was at the facility for a job interview and visiting with Matt, so off we went a bit earlier for our usual visit. OMG, that little Karsen is soooo cute and it was so good to see him and Emily again. He is doing well and at a month old, for this visit he was awake a bit more than before. Both Penny and Piper are doing very well and I'm happy/optimistic to say that Piper is growing steadily. I also saw when looking at the records I kept on Dolly recently, that she wasn't much bigger than Piper at this age giving me even more hope that she will grow to a good show/breeding size.

The dog show in Des Moines is coming up this weekend; I think the weather will cooperate with a break on the snow for travel. It will be a cold weekend though. I kind of looking forward to it and kind of not. Looking forward to getting away for a bit and not because I'm being pessimistic about it being worthwhile. I am not confident that Oscar will win over Christine's boy, nor am I confident about Amber. With so much breakage to the hair on her head/face and not sure she will walk "like a champion", I do wonder if she has much of a chance beating what I assume will be Valerie/Kathys girls and/or Daryl Martin. I guess we'll find out soon enough.

2-16 Well hell, here it is Sunday of the Des Moines show weekend . . . . . and I'm NOT there! :( Forecast was for plenty of snow both here and even more so in Des Moines so I decided to stay home, but as it turns out there is next to nothing and I could've/should've gone. Dang it!!! Even with the uncertainty that Amber or Oscar would have done well enough to win any placement, it would have been interesting to see how Oscar especially would have done against Rocket, a puppy from Christine's breeding's. He is a couple of months younger than Oscar and cute enough, but does have the dark face like Skye does. That in my opinion would be his major downfall. I saw a video of him in the ring; he walked nice but did not do very well for the table exam. He's young so that's understandable. Anyway, with missing this show and looking at upcoming possibilities, it could be April or May before we have any to go to. This at least would give me time to work on my two and for Amber's head hair to grow out some more. Still have Penny here; haven't really sent out any "feelers" from previous applications I've gotten. I also thought about contacting Debbie Frye in Lincoln as she expressed interest in another female at some point when she and her daughter were here for Otie. I do need to get going as at 14 weeks, Penny does need her forever home. Piper will be kept and co-owned with Connie and I so that Connie has a Biewer to show. I hesitate with the idea of her going to her house to live because she definitely is my "pick of the litter", but with 4 others in the house I don't want or need another here right now. I'm also iffy on how well Connie will work with her as a show pup, not wanting her to treat her and coddle her as if she were a pet. I noticed that with how she dealt with Finn and even when I tried to "mentor" her about it she didn't seem very responsive. Even Connie needs some training on how to walk in the ring, holding the lead correctly, and how to stack and present the dog while it is on the table. All of this will need to be discussed before she takes Piper home. A few days ago, Kristen talked with me about taking charge of the planning of a baby shower for Emily and Karsen having called for information about a venue to have it at. She asked me to contact Emily for a firm date that she would like to have it so she could book the reservation. I called; no answer and then texted and STILL no reply! Once again, I JUST DON'T GET IT!!! When we visited with Matt yesterday he did get a text from Emily the day before on Valentines day with a few pictures of Karsen dressed for the holiday, so at least there's that for him.

Though we didn't get as much snow as they predicted, we are in for a few days of frigid temperatures this coming week. Middle of February so I'm holding on to the fact that spring is on the way.

3/3 Hooray, spring is just around the corner!! I've been hearing the springtime birds chirping in the early morning as I am starting to wake up and the weather the past few days have given us a hint of warmer weather to come. Tomorrow is supposed to be a nasty cold, wet day, but . . . . we will be leaving for our short trip to Arizona with Jenny & Brandon (and Jesse) to visit Allie for a few days. I hope it will be a fun-filled few days even though the weather won't be "Arizona-like"; aka: not swim weather. Connie will be spending most of her time here with the furry crew while we're gone and when we return will be taking Piper home (across the street) with her since she will be the one showing Piper when she is old enough. That leaves us with just one extra, Penny. Still waiting on her forever family to find her. . . .

In other news, it seems that Matt will need to have his second toe removed due to infection in the bone. He spent the weekend in the hospital getting IV antibiotics; this morning I saw something on his "My Chart" about a toe removal, so I am assuming they made that decision since I saw him yesterday. I will be going up to see him this morning for more information; last I heard they would likely be sending him back to Montclair sometime today.

The other day Beth texted me a few pictures and a short video of Karsen. Almost two months old and from the photos/video, I could see that he is getting much more expressive and adorable. I've been wanting to talk with Beth (about Emily's lack of communication), so I asked her to give me a call. From that conversation, it seems that Emily has depression and anxiety much like her dad, and shockingly Beth said that Emily mentioned thinking I was racist and didn't like Karsen's dad, Lamonte. I have no clue where that is coming from except maybe an excuse for her in not communicating. There is no truth to that so it doesn't make any sense. Beth totally nixed any truth to that to Emily, telling her that I was NOT racist in any way, shape or form. The next day we saw Emily and Karsen when we went to visit with Matt. I felt I needed to tread lightly for a little while, not sure how Emily felt, but after a bit everything seemed to be okay. I did notice though that when a staff member that was holding Karsen asked "who wanted him", Emily was quick to say "Grandpa" even though I was ready to take him. Right away I thought "was this her not wanting me to hold him?", but later assumed it was her wanting Matt to hold him as much as he wanted. Luckily Matt said no he did not want to right then, so I did get to take him. And OMG, right away I noticed how much heavier he had gotten!!! He is such a beautiful, adorable baby boy; the love was just flowing. I felt there were little hearts all around my head as I held him. Emily mentioned while we were there about agreeing to a baby shower soon, so hopefully plans for that will get underway soon. She did not know at this point that Beth and I had discussed that the other day when I talked to her.

3/8 We have been gone and are back home now from our short trip to Arizona to visit Allie. It was a good time even without weather warm enough for swimming. Our Airbnb was nice and gave us the opportunity to eat a couple of dinners at "home". When not there we were . . . at a NBA basketball game (Phoenix Suns - Jesse's fav team), grocery run to stock up on food, snacks, and drinks, hiking in rock hills???/mountains??? at Papago Park/Desert Botanical Garden, a visit to Arizona Boardwalk where we went through an aquarium and Illusion exhibit and candy shoppe, and on our last day went to a spring training baseball game, then on to Old Town Scottsdale for sights and dinner. It was a fun-filled trip in which one of my favorite highlights was seeing and being with a more "alive" Jesse. In all of our years together, Jesse has always been a quiet kid, keeping to himself most often, so seeing him up and about, going places with him, and having him play games with us at the Airbnb was a bonus in this trip. Texts with Connie all the while we were gone kept me in the loop with how things were going with the dogs at home; all went well so no worries there. She did ask if it was odd that one or either of the boys peed on the sofa as it happened a few times while she was here; I told her that a few times seemed unusual and also tipped me off that maybe one of the girls was getting ready to come into heat as I had already been suspecting.

When we got home, all of the dogs seemed glad to see us and I checked the girls right away. I didn't see any sign of impending heat with Dolly even though Oscar was constantly following her around, but definitely it seemed that Amber was starting to swell some, though no sign of bleeding. From what I was seeing the boys were so far showing little to no interest in her. With such interest in Dolly, I am assuming that Amber's heat might once again bring her in earlier than expected; time will tell as I continue to watch both of the girls (AND THE BOYS!) We do NOT want another litter of puppies this time.

Matt has been in the hospital all the while we were gone after having his toe removed last week. He likely would have gotten released sooner but was having nausea issues from the antibiotics he was on post surgery, so had to stay until antibiotics were done and his appetite returned. When talking with him today it seems that NO ONE checked on him while we were gone!!! Before I left I spoke with Beth and she assured me that she would make a point to visit him and if that was not possible, to at least call/facetime with him, as well as trying to get Emily to do the same. I am SO disappointed in them for not doing a darn thing, again especially Emily. There truly is no excuse for her lack of communication with him, and especially nothing while he was in the hospital. It's ridiculous!! Matt is finally getting discharged from the hospital today and I will be happy to see him later. I have no intention to let either Emily or Beth know that he was discharged since they just don't seem to care enough to check on things themselves. UGH!

3/9 Just a quick note that yes, Amber is definitely in heat as I did see the slight tinge of color when checking her this morning. I'm sure that her "day 1" was while we were gone so I will have to use a "guesstimate" date for the start of her second cycle. Again, no puppies this time as we all need a break, but I am looking forward to her next cycle when we will hopefully be having some Amber/Winston OR Oscar puppies!

3/13 Now Oscar has been following Amber around 24/7, poor guy. Winston on the other hand hasn't shown much interest in her. Not sure why that is except maybe being experienced he knows that she is not yet ready to be bred??? I'm using March 6th as her "day 1" guesstimate since we were out of town when she started. This would only put her at day 8 which I assume is still a little early for ovulation. The boys are being kept in belly bands with a close eye on them as well since we do NOT want puppies this time around. So far it doesn't seem that Amber being in heat is bringing Dolly in this time. The boys have shown only a little interest in her, but she is showing no signs of coming in. Good on one point not having the girls cycle together (pregnancy-wise/having two litters together in the future), but it will mean we have to go through two heat cycles & dealing with the boys. Oh well, such is the life of a breeder. Emily started her job working for the housekeeping people at Montclair this week and we got to see her yesterday, but no of course with her working, no seeing Karsen. She stopped over our house later in the evening to borrow $$ and we had a nice chance to catch up, but again not the chance to see Karsen. She did mention that she was bringing him to work on Friday, having Matt watch him for her, along with the many residents/workers there to help when needed. That is a day that we will be visiting Matt so we will get to see him then. I went to water aerobics with Jenny again on Tuesday and will again today (Thursday), likely to be a regular routine. Visited with Barb on Monday while I finally gave Camie her much needed bath and groom. Today I have a person coming to visit and meet Penny and the other dogs . . . and me. She messaged me inquiring about Penny; in our conversations she ended up saying she wasn't sure she was quite ready yet and/or that realistically she needed to save up for one of these dogs. The invitation to come visit was in hoping seeing Penny "live" might be a way to have her fall in love with her enough to adopt her but, I'm not holding my breath. She's already filled out the application and from the information there, our conversations via messenger, and looking at her Facebook page, I already feel very comfortable with her as a prospective buyer. I would love for it to work out as Penny is so overly ready for her forever home and needs that one on one attention and training. So, fingers crossed it might work out.

3-15 Well darn, for now the visit from the person inquiring about Penny seems to not have worked. Though she and her mom LOVED Penny and all of the dogs, so far her consensus is that she is maybe not quite ready or not financially able to bring a new puppy home. She has not come right out and said "no", but instead leads me to believe the possibility is still there stating that "she will keep me posted on where she is at with a final decision on Penny". So we are still waiting for now to find her a forever home.

We saw Emily and Karson yesterday and gosh is he ever growing! Not just in weight, but taller/longer too; I think he is going to be a tall boy! So cute and I even got a sleeping smile out of him. Love every chance we have to see and hold him.

Keeping Oscar & Winston away from Amber; she has got to be at the start of her prime time in her heat cycle about now; she has started to flag and flirt with the boys through the gate separating them. Seeing the boys around Dolly is keeping me wondering if she's in heat. She is no where near as swollen as Amber is, but seeing their interest and maybe even a bit of fagging got me thinking that maybe I do remember with her past cycles that she does not swell as much???, so I'm more convinced now that she is in heat. Guess we'd better watch them close as well, because we don't want puppies this time around.

3/21 Happy 22nd Anniversary to Jim and me today and woohoo, first day of spring was yesterday! Winter ended with thunderstorms followed by a blizzard the day before (typical Nebraska weather), but yesterday and today has sunshine and warmer weather melting most of the snow quickly.

Calgon, take me away . . . . please! With Amber and Dolly now in standing heat the last few days it has been almost non stop whining from the two boys and the girls aren't helping by standing at the gates that separate them flagging their rear ends at them. Jim and I are about at our wits end and counting the days for their cycles to be done. By my guess hopefully, maybe this weekend give or take a day or two. I am thankful that the boys are for the most part getting along with just a short squabble or two and the girls, though we keep them mostly separated from each other are fairly okay when together under my watchful eye. They seem more interested in sniffing and flagging even for each other. Continued email conversations with Alyssa Edie, the girl that came to meet Penny leaves me hanging on to a bit of hope, but still . . . . hanging. She has a trip coming up the first week of April and will hopefully let me know after having time to think while she's away. Her heart (especially) and finances seem to be what is holding her back for the most part. I will probably post Penny on Facebook again this weekend to see if I can spark interest from anyone else. At almost 19 weeks old she really needs a home.

3/23 Just saying; the constant whining from the boys is still going strong, for the most part for Dolly though when I let the boys outside with Amber, they (mostly Winston) do still show interest in her, but again mostly worried where Dolly is. It is driving me/us nuts and seems to have been going on for so long!!! According to my guess for their "day 1", the girls are around days 16-18 so probably still have a few days to go before things start to settle down. Then to top things off the other day I was hit with a head cold and have been stuffy, sneezy, and generally feeling like crap. Also, the shingles that showed up on me shortly after returning home from Arizona is MUCH better, but still has lingering stinging/burning pain off and on in the area where the rash broke out (left leg area front & back). The rash is almost gone only with a little lingering scabbing that still needs to clear up. But with all this crap I've been dealing with I just don't have the energy or gumption to do anything, yet still would love to get out of the house just to get away from the dogs for a while. Instead, I spend part of the time in the bedroom with Dolly for a little peace and quiet (at least quieter than if we were out with the boys).

Not sure what's going on in my mind these days, could be my mood with how I've been feeling, but I find myself not very excited about upcoming dog shows. Seward, Ne show is already planned and entered and originally I was telling Connie that it would be nice to get to one or two others before that one for practice for Amber & Oscar since it's been 5 months since they've shown last. We finally decided to go to one in Mason City IA, though I dragged my feet entering just not feeling like bothering with it. Why?, I've been asking myself . . . . My mood with the craziness in the house is certainly not helping and still having that extra pup here (Penny) is not helping either. Other thoughts going through my head; wanting to get Oscar to his Champion title so that I can find him a new home. Though I would like to use him on Amber for her first litter I really don't need or want two males here. Truthfully, I've also been thinking the end of all of this is imminent; not so much close, but just finishing up with the dogs I have and then calling it a day. As of now, this would mean showing Amber to her GCH title, Oscar to his CH title, and not to forget Piper, now living across the street with Connie. The plan is to show her to her CH and maybe GCH title and breed her as well. We will have to see how that goes as so far I am still wondering if she will get to a good breeding size. After CH/GCH titles are earned, then breed Amber (and possibly Piper) until they reach retirement, or sooner if I find myself having had enough. We will see. Maybe it's the girls in heat and the boys going nuts getting to me and having more dogs in the house than I'd like that is making me think all of this, OR maybe 15 years of living my dream is getting close to enough. Time will tell.

3/26 Thank goodness, we finally have relief!! On this what would be my estimated day 18-ish of Dolly's heat cycle the interest from the boys has let up and we are back to some normalcy. Thank the Lord!!!

4/2/25 Another new month already, the month when dog shows for the year will begin. Connie and I will be heading to Mason City Ia the weekend of April 19-20. Entries close today so will soon find out if we're the only ones being there or if maybe Valerie might also be there with one or two of Kathy's dogs. It is Easter weekend so that might be keeping people home. There were 3 Biewers there last year which I assume was Valerie. I'm going mostly just to give Amber and Oscar a practice run before the shows in May closer to home with more competition. I am wondering though if Oscar will have the same issue as Connie had with Finn, being the only male showing offering little to no points for automatic placements. Piper has been living with Connie since the beginning of March, which is/was the plan but I sure do miss having feeding and weight management control as well as regular show-like pictures with her. Knowing Connie I feel that Piper is not being primped & primed for show life likely spending most of their time lying around at home. Yesterday we both went with Piper and Amber to get their rabies shots and Connie came over with Piper wearing a harness vest and leash! WTH!??!! I told her if anything she should have put her on a lead to seemingly no avail. At the vet, Piper weighed in at just 4 lbs (possibly a tad more as the scale was fluctuating), but in any case less than I would have hoped. (Proving again my wish of more control of her diet). Piper did seem maybe a bit taller so hopefully she is growing up and will fill out later.

Connie and I will be heading to Mason City IA Easter weekend (April 18-20) for our first dog show of the year. I look forward to it mostly just to get out of this house for a while. 5 dogs is too much for me anymore, especially with Dolly constantly trying to show dominance over Amber and once in a while even Winston & Oscar will have a scuffle. I again really think that

having a puppy (Penny) around being feisty keeps everyone on edge. And yes, Penny is still here. I've had a few inquiries on her but no takers just yet. I'm still hoping to hear back from Alysen Edie (the girl from Lincoln) when she gets back from New York after the first week of April and hoping she will adopt her. But if not I do also have one other possible option in a lead from a lady that messaged me on Facebook. I'm pretty sure she lives here in Omaha and seems very interested but cash is tight for her. But in our last conversation she told me to get back with her after I speak with Alysen if she does not adopt Penny, so hopefully one of these two ladies will be Penny's forever family. In family news, nothing much and/or more of the same. Jim and I do nothing but sit home . . . . BORING! We visit with Matt every other day; he is doing okay but on more than one occasion he's mentioned being not happy. . . . with the place, with his issues . . . but otherwise deals with life as best he can. We get to see Emily when we visit which is nice, but she looks SO tired. She's said that Karsen has started teething which keeps her up at night a bit and I hope that's all it is. I talk with Kristen often enough; she and Gage are doing good. We most often see Jenny & Brandon; this past weekend was Brandon's 41st birthday and after giving Skye a spa day treatment on Saturday, we then met them at Ralston Keno for dinner. Yes, I DO have another son, but gosh I never hear from him unless it's me that calls or texts. It's been about another month now (I texted him to let him when we left for Arizona), with not a word from him since. It hurts/bothers me that he doesn't at least check in with me once or twice a month. He does remind me of me, how I didn't call my mom as often as I could/should have, but it was only because my life is boring and I had nothing much to say. I did talk to her more often than John does to me though. I believe that is the case with John and I; he is on the quiet side and work and family is his life. But still as I always remind him, a text or call just to say hi, how are you, what's new, just to let me know he's thinking of me is all I need.

4/5/25 Just a quickie post; first and foremost poor Matt is in the hospital again. This past week he's had two episodes of hypoglycemia (that I know of) and the one yesterday morning required a call to 911. They ended up admitting him to try and figure out why the lows are happening so often. He also has another infection starting in his third toe, so hopefully getting antibiotics while being in the hospital will take care of that so he doesn't have to lose another toe. Yesterday afternoon when I saw him he said the nurse said he might also have a UTI. Both that and the infection could be affecting his blood sugar levels some. Not sure how long they will keep him there but certainly through the weekend. We will visit with him today before having to go to a family wedding (Gina Marchio) later on. The numbers are up for the dog show in Mason City, IA. Looks like there will be just one other Biewer there with Oscar and Amber. Amber is the only Champion so no chance of "beating a CH" as needed twice for a GCH title, Oscar is the only male so no points for his automatic BOS, and the other entry is a class bitch. Assuming Amber gets BOB, she will at least gain 2 points each day if I'm not mistaken.

4/11 Matt was discharged from the hospital on Tuesday. So far so good and we have a meeting set up at Montclair on the 16th with the rep from Beta Bionics to give the staff there a better idea of how the insulin pump works to hopefully ward off so many extreme lows. Yesterday we (finally) had the pleasure of babysitting for KARSEN while Emily was at work. Just a bit nervous about it as it's been a LONG time since we've had a baby around for any length of time, but the day went way smoother than I thought it might be. Karsen was such a good baby all day long and it was such a joy to see him smile and hear him cooing his little baby noises. There was not once that he was cranky; even when he was tired . . . . he just fell asleep. We had his car seat so took him up to Montclair to visit with Grandpa Matt (and mommy too). We had Gage with us all day too, and he was very helpful as he loves babies! No doubt not every day with Karsen is as smooth and cranky baby free as yesterday, but I would be happy to watch him from time to time. UGH: still no forever family for Penny. A few nibbles but no takers. It's obvious that 5 dogs is too many for us in this house; one of the reasons that I wish Penny's forever family would find her. As things are I'm not even really able to enjoy the dogs much; their barking is getting to me and is ridiculous. At this point I'm even looking forward to finishing Oscar and finding another home for him. However, with impending shows coming up I'm also wondering about how fast . . . or more so, slow he will attain his AKC Champion title. The problem will be either no competition for him OR that any competition will beat him. IDK, he can look nice when I get him stacked nice on the table, but I'm iffy about how his movement looks; tail set, topline, etc. Right now I'm not very optimistic about either him or Amber. Most all of the shows we go to will have the same dogs showing and for whatever reason I'm leery about them doing well against the others. I hope it's just my insecurity getting the best of me, but I don't know; I guess we'll find out next month. We will be going to Mason City, IA this weekend for a practice run. There is only one other class bitch entered with Amber and Oscar (if she shows up) so no points for Oscar and IF Amber is BOB, maybe 2 pts each day for her. But again, this is more of just a practice run to see how they both perform after no shows for the last 5-6 months.