Nerve and Nerves

Well, we're here in Louisville, or Luhvahl, as the locals say. We had the nerve, the Nerve, the NERVE to bring our tiny but adorable Stella Moona out into the great wide world at a National show. The National Show.

Which explains why it's one plus a.m. and I have not slept a wink. I keep thinking about everything I've learned here, everything I've seen and wondering about what will be revealed tomorrow.

Today, I ran into a wonderful fiber judge who is not here officially judging for Stella's class. Which meant he was able to look at her fiber sample (which must be taken from a particular region on the animal), and to look at Stella in the flesh too. He was quite impressed with her, and confirmed her coloring as Dark Rose Gray. There are twenty possible colors, well, make that 20 official colors. DRG is a very rare and sought after color right now. So our tiny little nekked Stella is not just sweet but potentially valuable.

Tomorrow morning, I will enter the show barn, feed and water her, take her for a walk to stretch her out, wipe her with a rubber mitt, then wipe her face with a damp washcloth so she's ready for her closeup. Before 2 p.m. tomorrow, she may earn a ribbon at National, a very prestigious thing.

This is the thing that is keeping me up tonight. A case of the nerves. The wonder and marvel of this being my life unfolding in a new direction. As Katherine of It All says, "Yes, kittens." I wanted to share this case of nerves with y'all (another L'ville phrase).

I keep telling myself, "you can't go swimming if you don't get wet".

Blue skies, she wrote late in the night