Random Bits

The weather this weekend was beautiful - record highs for late April - in the high eighties on Sunday. I spent the day with my mom - first doing some simple carpentry at the gallery (still love the cordless drill), then home with her for lunch and discussion through the afternoon. My dad went and played golf, and I didn't even see him until I was almost ready to go home.

Their puppy is now six months old, and he is definitely an Adolescent Dog. His vet wants them to hold off on fixing him for a couple of months (get all his adult teeth, and some more of his adult growth) so his procedure is scheduled for July. But until then he's excited by any little thing, driving my mother crazy with his hormones. Poor puppy. He's a big boy, now, at least fifty pounds. And so wanting to be a lapdog. He's also digging at the floors in "water seeking" behavior. My folks have taken to taking his water dish up and only giving him water once an hour or so - because he tends to want to swim in his water dish. And then he wants to chew on it. Not any types of behaviors displayed by their previous dog (also a Lab), JD, in all her years.

But then, she was female. Also fearless, far more active and aggressive and stubborn. She never did learn to come when called. M comes when called already. And he'd rather sit at your feet and lick your knees than do anything else. JD was pretty content to keep an eye on you from across the room. I tend to think JD was a far smarter dog, all around, but then M is only six months old, and he's currently going through the beginnings of doggy puberty, so of course he's a little brain-dead/out-to-lunch. Maybe in a year or so we'll be able to really compare and contrast them.

Mom and I discussed all sorts of things. Her gallery is still thinking of moving, but it is not as definite as they thought it would be. Part of the reason is money, of course, but I also don't think that it is the right time for it. Maybe, maybe not.

I've completed one of the banners for Azkatraz. I'm nearly done with a second. I got some glow in the dark paint I think I'm going to use on the third. I'm rather liking how they are turning out. I hope to be done with them by May 6th so Gwen can take them with her on the site visit. At the very least she will have two. I hope to give her all four.

Work news, I can't remember if I've journaled this or not... I am not going to Stockholm this summer. Neither am I going to Hiroshima this fall. The company wants to start sending fewer people, and since I and another girl sort of fulfill the same function onsite at the meetings, they were going to start with experimenting with sending one or the other of us to meetings. I wanted to skip Hiroshima so I can audition for a show going up this fall - the week of the Hiroshima meeting, actually. She doesn't mind going to Hiroshima, but she really really wanted to go to Stockholm, and was really really looking forward to that trip. She's going to go to both meetings - which means I don't have to leave Azkatraz on the red eye Monday night in order to get home, repack, and fly away to Stockholm within 24 hours. All around YAY! So while I will be sad to not go to the meeting in Stockholm, I really really do NOT mind a bit.

I just hope the guys at the meeting don't think I've been sacked when I'm not in Stockholm! :D

So that is all the news from my corner of the (very warm) world...

So I am dog-sitting this weekend for my parents. Their dog, a yellow lab, still thinks she is a puppy, although she is quite old for the size of dog she is. She is thirteen now, and she is quite attached to her humans. Her humans (my folks) are just as attached to her. However, they both had to fly to DC this weekend for a gala affair and I moved into their house for the two days they are away to be the substitute human for JD. I've just fed her dinner and my mother's note gave me instructions that JD gets some of the little tomatoes for dessert. "Just slice them a little so she can pick them up" says the note. And "some" is relative. Do I give her four? five? seven? Is a "slice" a cut in half? Or do I just make a cut in each one so the insides ooze out a little bit?

You must understand. My mother grew the sweet 100's tomato vine *specifically* for the dog. She's got five (or six or seven) other plants giving her tomatos to make sauce with, to put on sandwiches, to chop up and freeze for the winter. The little marble-size tomatoes are for JD. She goes out into the back yard and plucks them off the vine. My mom gets upset when she goes for the big tomatoes, but she doesn't care when JD nibbles the little ones (delicately) off the plant. So I cut *five* of the little buggers mostly in half and dumped them in her dish when she was done with dinner. She's been good.

A couple of summers ago she had a throat operation so she is voiceless, but she still tries to bark, more as a reflex than anything else I think.

So I brought my laundry and some food, and am watching the big screen TV from the leather reclining loveseat. Lovely! And when I move from room to room, I have a horizontal blonde shadow padding after me. Right now she is in the entry room to the house, waiting for my folks to come home. Sadly, they won't be home till tomorrow, but she will keep looking for them.