dog tales #1

Our dogs provide waaaay more entertainment than they cost (a bag of dog food and a box of bones a month!). My sister Joan has a night t-shirt that says "Dogs are proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy." Amen sister.

Maggie was the first. We hadn't had a dog since we lived in Peru where our housekeeper had a small wire-haired fox terrier named Inti. She was a pistol. When we moved home, we lived for quite a few years in rentals and places with little room, plus we had busy lives and were not home much. After we moved to Highgrove, we had more room and in theory had decided to get a dog. My sister Joan knew that I had carried a torch for a Great Pyrenees for a very long time, having been introduced to the breed by some friends from Arizona who had them in Tucson back in the 70s. The hitch is, Great Pyrenees are truly "great" in that they usually weigh more than 100 lbs and have a giant coat of fluffy white fur. You need room and a few extra $$$ for grooming costs. We finally had both, so one weekend after I had been away I returned to find my sister and my daughter with Cheshire cat grins - Joan had found an ad for a Pyr in Winchester. Off we went to see "Angel." She was a mess, having grown up on a horse farm, outdoors, never been groomed, had not been spayed yet. The family had her father, a great BIG boy, and didn't need another dog. She was obviously good-natured and came to us easily, and Joan swore that she would clean up. So off we went with her, her first time in a car, stuck between Joan and Laura in the back seat of my car. By the time we hit the freeway, she had a new name, "Magdalena" immediately shortened to Maggie, in honor of her Spanish/French heritage.

Within two days, I had spent $800 on her. That was soon followed by dog training with Brevela, who just loved her. Maggie was still a silly puppy when we got her and not house trained. She figured that out in about a minute, but decided that the best way to tell us that she had to go out was to jump around on the couch all 80 lbs of silly puppy. I finally had to convince her that NO, this wasn't the way to go, by dragging her off the couch, getting her down on the floor, and growling at her. She looked shocked, but I was the Mama and she rolled on her back and said, OK MOM, YOU WIN!!! She never jumped on the couch again. She is also great on a leash and I can take her anywhere - she is very friendly and people can't NOT pet her, her fur is lovely. She loves to get in your face and smell your breath (what have you been eating?) but doesn't lick.

Maggie is the queen of Highgrove. She feels that it is her duty and role to guard the entire neighborhood from evil and barks at any dog she hears ANYWHERE, and would love to take out the garbage truck - she barks, and it always goes away! She loves our neighbor who barbeques in the afternoon and chats with her and scratches her head through the fence. Right now, she is groomed and cleaned up and looks wonderful. That will last for a week or two until she rolls in the dirt, but right now she is spectacular. She loves big guys and absolutely dotes on our friend Joe, who does yard work for us, and Joan's son-in-law Rod, both of whom are good sized. She is also on a first name basis with the UPS man, who thinks she is wonderful.

Maggie also rules the roost when it comes to the "pack" too, although I am still the alpha female. She regulates Wiley and Athena when they get in her business - they are not allowed to bark at boys walking by, but recently Wiley has been allowed an understudy role...

January flies by

I don't know what happened to January. I feel like I just got back from Texas. Life continues to be busy. My sister Joan and I have spent most of the month sorting out a difficult situation with a good friend of ours from church, Doris. She is 82, and is legally blind and somewhat deaf, and is recuperating from a bad fall in early December. Long story short, she stayed with us for a few days at a time until she was able to stay by herself at night, and we found someone from my church to come in during the afternoons to clean up and make her dinner and make sure things are in order. She knows she needs to move eventually into assisted living but it has been a hard decision for her. We are now working on getting her mobile home cleaned out and ready to sell. Slowly, slowly, it's a big adjustment for her.

Otherwise, I spent lots of time in training this month with people from other counties and hearing about budget woes. I am counting my blessings because there are (so far) no indications that SB County will lay off anyone - we may go to furloughs, but that's better than losing a job. I think I could get by if I was laid off - I could probably retire ok - but there are many of our workers who need both incomes just to get by. In our Department, we are now doing something called "Brown Bag with the Managers" every month or six weeks or so to give workers a chance to help each other and help us problem solve as well. It has been super-successful and so far we have had a great turnout. The December meeting consisted of everyone thanking each other for all the help they have given each other - we have an office that is known for its great teamwork and it continues. I feel very blessed to have this job.

Matt, Laura and Danielle are fine as are Bill, Joan and the dogs. Maggie (our Great Pyrenees) has been beside herself since two Mini Pinschers moved in across the street - they drive her nuts and she just wants to go over there and clean their clocks...Athena hates it when it rains and doesn't even want to go outside to pee. (We tell her she has no choice in this particular matter...) Wiley is a big drama king and hates having his nails clipped - acts like you're killing him.

I have started teaching my class at Loma Linda School of Social Work. Big class - 15 students. Doesn't sound like it but when they are making two presentations each, two papers, three quizzes and two longer papers, that adds up to a lot of work. However, I really enjoy the class and they are starting to get into it now. We have lots of discussion and debate over social issues. Fun.

Bill has been to the doctor several times this month. I was concerned that his legs were getting weaker, but I think it is primarily because he hasn't been doing anything except sitting. We now have him in physical therapy with the idea of getting him strong enough to be able to go back to the gym, that would help a lot. I didn't realize that his doctor is head of the medical staff at a large local Kaiser facility and gets anything he wants when he wants it. We got the referrals that he asked for within a few days. Pretty nice.

Not much gardening going on. I have been cleaning up the yard a little at a time. Didn't plant too much this winter - lettuce, beets, carrots, spinach, fennel and chard. I know that sounds like a lot, but it really isn't, not for me!

For February, I plan to keep working on cleaning out pockets of messes, of which there are many in my house, work on the yard and my class. Back to the gym on a regular basis - I have struggled to get into a regular schedule since my class is on Mondays and that was one of my regular gym nights. I'll figure it out.