Is the universe trying to tell me something?

So, in the time since I've entered my grades, cleaned up my classroom,
handed in my keys, and left my teaching job forever...
(Really, I think I was much too nice to be a great teacher *sigh*)
I've found two four leaf clovers.
One on each day.

I hadn't seen any (despite looking) since last June.

Is the universe trying to tell me something?
If so, what?

Woohoo! CGC!

Saturday Chandler and I attended an outdoor "dog days" benefit for one of
our local shelters. While there I decided to try Chandler on the
Canine Good Citizen testing. To make a long story short, he passed
the CGC and was complimented for being such a pleasant boy.

Now I'm not sure where we're going with his training, as CGC was my next goal. More proofing, of course, but I've also had people suggest training him as a therapy dog since he's so snuggly.

I also broke down and let Chandler try flyball. He'd been crying all through the frizbee, police dog, and flyball demos, and the jumps were short. He's a bit of a bull in a china shop...but apparently has some talent. His hip will probably preclude anything, however. He had this bad tendency to get excited and zoom 20 feet off the end of the course to help himself to the bucket of tennis balls. Perhaps this is the curse of an intelligent dog...anyway, I still need to work on fine control offleash.

Wow!

I just got back from taking Chandler for his morning run in the park.
While walking through a stand of pines I noticed a massive 6 foot long splinter of fresh wood lying on the ground,
and was a bit perplexed about where it could have come from...
...until I turned around.

Two of the pines had been struck by lightning last night.
A strip of bark 30 or so feet up had been blasted off both trees,
and the wood underneath splintered.
A wooden birdhouse attached to one of the trees had also been blasted off. (Intact)

It was impressive to say the least, and there were splinters all over.
I picked up a small one, but it seems to have escaped my pocket.

Chandler's two month update

Chandler is progressing nicely. The only thing I notice these days are that he sometimes lies with that one front elbow sticking out....when his legs are facing in the opposite direction. So I suppose the muscles are still recovering.

Otherwise, I'm trying to work his hind legs back into shape. He ended up putting more weight on his bad hip, and lost muscle mass from resting so much. So he seems more likely to be having some pain in his hips, but it seems to go away quickly, and isn't slowing him down much.

He had a great time playing with his new Kong Wubba in my parents' yard today. I think he didn't want to go back inside, but I thought he was getting a bit too tired.

Happy Birthday Rowan!

12 years old. :)

One Month

It's been one month since Chandler had his accident, and he's much better. His limp seems to be mostly gone, and all he wants to do is run. Unfortunately, I don't feel safe letting him, because we're still pretty iced up here in Connecticut. He's still not as active and bouncy as he used to be, but his interest in toys and playing is returning. He also seems to have gotten out of the "sleeping in weird upside down positions" stage, which I assume was putting less pressure on his shoulder. However, he's still likely to stick that leg out when he's lying down.

Happy Birthday Ashke!

Snow day!

So, I'm doing work...
getting rest...
nursing Chandler...
and spoiling my Ashke kitty,
because it's his birthday. :)
12 years of cattitude,
and many more to come.