My first national was in 1989 after saving up all my lawn mowing money that summer to afford a plane ticket.My momma arranged for some of her freinds she met at the church convention to house me and carry me to the nationals and pick me up. I remember it well because I was in awe and was going around and seeing dogs I had normally seen in Reviews in person. That year Ch. Bethesda's Tacoma of Si-Don, CD was Grand Victor and a beautiful Ch. Altana's Kriket was GVX under Betty Radzevich. I was walking around saying stupid things like, "I like your dog", "He's/She's Really Pretty", "How much does he weigh?" , "I have one at home that looks just like him.."," You got any puppies???" This is the second year in a row that I will miss the GSD nationals. Last year, I was home whelping puppies by the 1rst place american Bred dog Ch. Shadowacres & Castlehill's In Cahoots, and this year, I needed to stay close to home with all the activity going on with my house. However, we do have good judges this weekend coming up in Shepherds and the herding group in Napa, CA (Sue Godek and Sunny Ambriosio) Tonights Pity Party Dinner: One plate of chilli/garlic/cheese fries with hot sauce One extra large Nestle's chocolate bar (strategically placed in the microwave for 7 seconds to make it soft, but not sunny) One liter of Wal-Mart Brand Grape Cola..... One DVD of "Sex and The City the Movie" Enjoy at will.... If you listen closely, you can hear your aeteries clogging. Oh by the way, let not fool you, Marshmallow spread is NOT a condiment, it, by itself on graham crakers can be served as an entree' <g> Mike Lynch who didnt want to miss it this year but is home in a rainy North Highlands,CA ============================================================================ POST is Copyrighted 2008. All material remains the property of the original author and of GSD Communication, Inc. NO REPRODUCTIONS or FORWARDS of any kind are permitted without prior permission of the original author AND of the Showgsd-l Management. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. ALL PERSONS ARE ON NOTICE THAT THE FORWARDING, REPRODUCTION OR USE IN ANY MANNER OF ANY MATERIAL WHICH APPEARS ON SHOWGSD-L WITHOUT THE EXPRESS PERMISSION OF ALL PARTIES TO THE POST AND THE LIST MANAGEMENT IS EXPRESSLY FORBIDDEN, AND IS A VIOLATION OF LAW. VIOLATORS OF THIS PROHIBITION WILL BE PROSECUTED. For assistance, please contact the List Management at admin@xxxxxxxxxxxx VISIT OUR WEBSITE - http://showgsd.org NATIONAL BLOG - http://gsdnational.blogspot.com/ ============================================================================