A girl and her dogs: The warnings were swift and ample

Well, it's official. There's no turning back now. Not in my mind, anyway. With the sales of Lead Dog Mead underway, and more sponsors and supporters jumping on board, my plight for the 2011 Iditarod has become a reality. Even though it's still more than a year away, I wake up at night with thoughts of the Dalzell Gorge, the Happy River Steps, the Farewell Burn, Little McKinley, the Blueberry Hills, Norton Sound, even Cape Nome. Don't get me wrong, I'm really excited to see the trail and the villages and meet the people and simply to run 1,000 miles with my dogs, but, yeah, I'm pretty nervous. I guess I'd be more worried if I wasn't nervous at all. Mostly, I have visions of wiping out on the main drags of downtown Anchorage during the ceremonial start. As a photographer, I know about waiting for that great action/wipe-out shot during a dog race and for those of you who know me, I have a reputation (if only in my own mind) for crashing and dragging at the start of races.
Training is going well though we're still running through water and mud. No snow and no cold, makes Jilly a grumpy girl.
All the dogs are doing well and a couple of the yearlings have shown that they are promising leaders. We're still relying on Capiche, Bully and Drake a lot but hopefully once the younger leaders-in-training get more confident we can start giving the older ones a break. I've also been trying our teenage dogs up front but to no avail. I guess Doyon (aka Sweet D) showed the most promise, though he gets distracted by anything (rocks, puddles, his own feet) when there's not another dog butt in front of him. Oh well, he's secured a spot in the back of the team.
Lead Dog Mead is selling well at the Winery and at stores throughout the state. Also, I acquired a new sponsor yesterday. Terri Segesser, owner of T.J. Seggy's in Soldotna, AK, has donated $250 worth of diesel fuel for when we travel to races this season. Thank you, Terri!
We're still working on details for the winter tour biz, but we've already had some inquiries so I'm very optimistic.
As promised, here are some random photos from the past couple of weeks.
Peace.

Rich and his burnin' loins. Just kidding (Sorry, Lou). Rich made a grate for the top of the wood stove so we can have hot water for the dogs.

A rare cool morning.

Our 'kitchen.'

Bedroom, living room, dining room, TV room...etc, etc, etc.

Rich steppin' out. This is our new cabin. She's tiny but mighty and soon to be a little less tiny. Jason and Kelly (our landlords/friends/fellow mushers) are building a bedroom on the back of this little beast. Just that little extra bit room will be a big improvement.