Wahoo!

As of this very minute, I am officially on Summer Vacation!!! Yippee!!! I do not have to report back to work until mid-August. I'll drop in from time to time just to take care a few odds and ends, buy WAHOO!!!! I'm now on BREAK!

I'm not going to be doing anything all that exciting. We've got plans for to help my Mother sort through alot of things and that will take up a great deal of my time. And hopefully, I'll be able to get my house in better order (emphasis on hopefully) and I'll be able to spend more time taking care of Russell and our newfs. And I'll get to sleep in some. That is definitely something I'm going to enjoy!

My Cell Phone and the general craziness of this week...

Well, it happened. I ran out of minutes on my cell phone! Never ever did I think that this would happen, but it did. I think the trip to Iowa didn't help matters.... because we traveled mid-week. My plan offers free weekends so once Saturday came it wasn't a big deal.

My sister and I have been on the phone practically 24/7 the past few weeks in regards to my Mother. I realized that I was getting low on minutes, and warned Lilli, but to no avail. She kept calling and calling, and suddenly I was over. So off went my phone and I was in-communicado.

And THAT is a weird feeling. I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would. I knew that if an emergency popped up I could still make a call. I warned Russell and he understood. I just can't underestand where those 300 minutes went!!! I've never gone over before, so it will definitely be interesting to look at the statement! LOL!

Juggler extraordinaire!!!!

Upon reflecting about this past weekend, I've come to the conclusion that I've become quite proficient at juggling. And given my lack of coordination and balance, this is actually an amazing accomplishment. At this point, I should clarify that my newfound proficiency in juggling is not physical. Instead, it's actually "time" that I've come to juggle quite well! Now if I could just conquer the physical side, I'd be doing really really well!

From this, you may gather that I had a busy weekend. Yet it was a good one... filled with activities that I like, including, dog club events, ballet recitals, dinners with family and friends! Can't beat it! And the best part is that Russell took the day off today... yet he drove all the way to work (we both work at the University) to take me out to lunch. What a guy!!!

Rain or not, things are dripping wet!

I was outside with Ben this morning, and saw this wet leaf. I thought it would make and interesting picture, so after I had walked the rest of the dogs I grabbed my camera and luckily "the drip" was still there.

You may notice a "fine" hair hanging from the drip. Could it be a newf hair? It's white, I think... so perhaps a remnant from Sailor. I'd like to believe that's what it is!

Here another picture:

Finally, a good picture of Ben!

This is Ben. We've been fostering him for quite awhile and have decided to adopt him. He's a regular goofball but is all heart. The poor boy suffers from major anxiety. Prior to coming to live with us, he jumped through 5 windows trying to get to his people. When he arrived at our house, we were quite concerned about this. However, he settled right in. We had him on medication for quite awhile to help take the edge off. Though he'll always be anxious, he's improved a great deal.

Ben has the greatest personality... yet it's not easy to describe his personality. The closest I can get is to describe not one, but two character's from television.
The first is "Kramer" from the television show "Seinfeld". Ben's hair sticks up on his head much like Kramer's. And he also enters rooms just like Kramer does. It's always quite comical!

The second is "Barney Fife" from the "Andy Griffith" show. Ben is a self appointed deputy sherriff. He's constantly on patrol, and if he thinks anyone is doing anything wrong, he takes it upon himself to let them know. He also considers himself Russell's "back-up". He's definitely a deputy without a bullet...
Despite his many quirks, I love this boy with all my heart, and I'm proud to call him "ours".

Today is the best day....

...because it's my beloved husband's birthday. Not only is he my beloved, but he's my soul mate, my best friend and the most honorable man I know. Happy Birthday sweetie. I do love you with every ounce of my being... and appreciate all you do for me, all you put up with. I appreciate your tolerance, your good nature and your patience. You are always there for me, in good times and in bad... you are my everything.

Godspeed Sweet Quentin

I've just learned of the very sad news of the death of a friends beloved dog. His name was Quentin, and he's been very sick for some time. His Mom wrote about him:

"My Quentin's brave battle with hemangiosarcoma is over. He slipped away this morning, laying on our love seat cradled in my arms. Quentin lived life to the fullest, greeting each day with enthusiasm and joy, right to the end - he truly loved his life. Always a puppy at heart, he loved to swim, run through the woods, play tug of war and wrestle with the Newfs. He was such an incredibly happy boy who was dearly loved and will be sadly missed. He made us laugh each and every day for the last 10 1/2 years....the world is a much sadder place now that he is gone."

My heart, my thoughts and my prayers are with his family. He was such a brave sweet boy.. he fought the good fight... and I have grown to love him as I love "my own" these past few months. I'm going to light a candle when I get home... and I look for his star tonight... it's going to be a clear night here... and I'm sure it will be among the brightest of stars. Please join me.... and blow him a kiss. He has a page on Dogster... you can visit it by clicking here:

Quentin's Dogster page

Godspeed Sweet Quentin...

Silly Cora

Good Girl Cora?!?!?!?

There are times, when even the best behaved dogs are naughty. They don't mean to be. Something just happens to make them that way. In this particular instance, I'm referring to our good girl Cora. Cora is our best girl. She's not perfect, and can be "impish" at times... And yesterday was one of those days... and poor Ben paid the price.
We had just returned home from work, and Russell had taken Cora & Ben outside. Instead of concentrating on taking care of his business, Russell quicky aware that Ben was paying more attention to Cora. Russell looked over towards where Cora had been milling about, and all he could see was her rear end sticking out from beneath a bush. And then suddenly, a rabbit bolted out from the other side of the bush.

Poor Ben was beside himself. His inner "DEFCON" status was raised to the highest limit and he was totally on alert. No matter what Russell did to distract him, Ben's focus remained on the spot where the rabbit was last seen! Of course at this point, the rabbit was more than likely in the next county!

Russell and Ben came back inside after about 20 minutes. Russell was most annoyed and Ben was quite excited about the whole matter. I'm sure that he somehow communicated the entire chain of events to Kira and Yelda... in what ever "dogspeak" they use. And I do have to say that Cora appeared quite smug about the entire matter!

A Boy and his Dog

On our way to work yesterday, Russell saw a dog lying under a tree in a cemetery just adjacent to campus. One of my fellow co-workers also saw it and sent an email out to several known dog-lovers on campus. I went with her at lunch to try and catch the dog. We had no luck, and met again after work. Once again we were unable to find the dog. We left food and water for it and made plans to resume looking the next day and then parted ways. I drove through the cemetery. I stopped and visited my Father's grave and then visited a memorial that is legendary in Dayton. It's of a boy and his dog. I've visited it before, however, for the first time it occurred to me that the dog might be a newfoundland!

In 1860 there was a boy, Johnny Morehouse, the youngest son of John and Mory, who lived with them in the back of his father’s shoe repair shop. One day the five-year-old was playing near his home by the edge of the Miami & Erie Canal (which used to run along the present Patterson Blvd. in downtown Dayton near the library).
The boy accidentally fell into the canal water. His dog, playing by him, jumped into the water and tried to save him. He pulled the boy out, but not in time to save his life. The boy drowned and was buried in Woodland Cemetery.

Legend has it that, several days after the burial, the dog appeared next to the boy’s grave staying by it morning, noon, and night. Visitors to the cemetery saw him and began to worry about his health. Some began leaving him bits of food. Passersby still bring small toys and other trinkets to decorate the grave marker to express their spontaneous outpourings of sympathy. Some visitors put money there. A lady who walks the cemetery every day collects the money and buys something for the grave often. As you can see on his grave marker, he already has toys to play with – his harmonica, his top, his cap, his ball. There are several reports that Johnny and his dog have been seen walking through the cememtery at night. Reputed experts in the paranormal field have confirmed this.
I felt a bit silly, but I left a biscuit on the base of the statue. I think the dog looks sort of like a Newf.... specially from that era. Johnny's story reminds me of another great dog story, which, as it turns out, is from the same era. It's the story of Greyfriar's Bobby

In 1858, a man named John Gray was buried in old Greyfriars Churchyard. His grave levelled by the hand of time, and unmarked by any stone, became scarcely discernible; but, although no human interest seemed to attach to it.
The sacred spot was not wholly disregarded or forgotten. For fourteen years the dead man's faithful dog kept constant watch and guard over the grave until his own death in 1872. The famous Skye Terrier, Greyfriars Bobby was so devoted to his master John Gray, even in death, for fourteen years Bobby lay on the grave only leaving for food.

It is reported that a daily occurance of people from all walks of life would stand at the entrance of the Kirkyard waiting for the one o'clock gun and the appearance of Bobby leaving the grave for his midday meal.

As for the stray dog:

We haven't gotten him yet. The good news is that of all places for a dog to be lost, a cemetery is pretty safe. There's plenty of shelter and water. We've left food for him. My friend Diane actually had her hands on him twice yesterday... he ate biscuits out of her hand, and dog chow (only thing we could find at the local convenience store). He's hanging out near a large pond, and is pretty savvy about hiding under thick brush, so he's got shelter and shade. Diane met a couple of women walking... one walks the cemetery daily, and is a dog lover. She's got the animal shelter's # programmed into her phone. She's also going to try and get him. The shelter knows that Diane will be happy to foster him, so if we can just get him, he'll get the care he needs. He's limping a bit, and is scared. We thought he was a puppy, but after getting a better look at him last night, he's older. He has a collar, but no tags.

Diane hopes that by going back alot and leaving food that he'll grow to trust her and get in her car. We're not going to chase him anymore... because the worst thing that could happen is if he'd leave the cemetery grounds.

I've called the cemetery office and asked them to call us if one of the workers does catch him. The workers have been very nice about helping us.