Sir Edmund Blacklabber

We visited the Riverside Shelter last night, hoping to find a pound puppy to love and to keep Howard company, and after a little searching, we found Ed.  He seemed to be very sweet and interested in us, calling us back to visit him more.  We did visit him more and fell in love.  We brought Howard over this morning for a meet and greet, and they were very content with each other, so, after the required snip snip and adoption papers, antibiotics for ear infection and kennel cough, we brought him home tonight.  Poor little ( well, 75 pounds ) guy had a rough day, but is very happy to be out of the asylum.  

Norman

Norman died yesterday at 2:00.  Jenessa and I were with him out on the front lawn in the sunshine, it was a beautiful day.  We had him for 12 years, so we are all very sad, we told him he was the best dog ever.  He had been sitting out in the rain alot the past week, and looking like Eeyore, but he seemed to stop eating sometime Saturday and he got really sick Sunday, so we brought him inside. Then Monday we took  him out on the grass to rest  and made a call to the vet, but he just was done.   As soon as it was over, I could tell he was running across the grass in the breezy sunshine, chasing a ball in doggie heaven, with "What a Wonderful World" playing in the background.  He was the first dog I ever had and I will never forget him.

shoulder to the wheel

So, the day after Doug got home, my Mom called. She had fallen and I spent the rest of the day in the ER at San Gabriel and packing her things to come for an extended visit. Her shoulder is fractured. She is healing and it has been 20 days now. She is very anxious to return home to her independent life, but it will be at least a couple more weeks.

Friday when he got back, we enjoyed a clam chowder/ sonoma chicken salad dinner with Logan at DCA. Then we listened to the acoustic guitar music ( the broken one and a half song loop, we realized ) as Logan spent the next 40 minutes on the Smoke Jumpers, being a carefree 9 year old.

Saturday morning Doug was working in the front and back yards, and realized that both of the pups were missing. We set out with the pickup on a search and rescue, and harsh reprimand, mission. After the cursory check of the nearby busy streets, there were the fugitives cheerfully sniffing around the yard of the one and only couple in the tract who love having the homeowner's association. It became a stealth mission to shove their not very lightweight bums into the pickup bed in one smooth motion ( I can't believe I lifted Norman into the truck without a second thought, though my back had a lot more to say about it for a couple of hours). As soon as we returned to our only Saturday with a free schedule for the past and future 6 months, the call came from my Mom.