Happy Birthday!
Happy 29th Birthday to me! :)
Yes, my grandmother sent me two sets of flowers. It’s kind of an involved story that isn’t nearly as interesting as you’d think.
Home Again!
Yara and I have returned from our weekend away. More details and tons of photos to follow after we’ve both gotten some sleep.
Little Miss Photogenic
Any of you who know me beyond this website¹ are keenly aware of how much I loathe and detest packing. I’m not really sure why given how much of it I’ve had to do during my life what with all the moving about I’ve done and traveling between my parents every week when I was growing up. Still, I’m never one to turn down an opportunity to procrastinate when their is packing involved.
So, having said all that, I’ll get to the point of the matter. Yesterday I had some photos taken of Yara and I at JCPenney’s Portrait Studio.² Yara was an absolute angel and I don’t mind saying that there were a number of beautiful shots the photographer got of her. One in particular is this breathtaking profile of her head that I love so much I ordered a 10×13 print of. She did get just a teeny bit stressed out and started panting pretty heavily — leading to a bunch of cute photos of her with her tongue lolling out of her mouth. And at one point she got incredibly silly and started rolling around on the floor and trying to hide behind me which was quite funny and produced a number of “candid” photos.
All things said and done, I was very pleased with both Yara and the photographer. The pictures were really very adorable and I ended up choosing several prints. In fact, the photographer was so incredibly taken with Yara that she asked if I’d let her hang a shot of her in the studio. In the end, she had just as much trouble picking “just one picture” too and she’ll be hanging up four or five different prints, including a multi-shot print of the two of us. I’m totally flattered. She says the photos should be up by the time my prints are ready so I plan to bring my camera and take a picture of the display, as strange as that sounds. I’m also supposed to be getting (very low resolution) copies of all the shots in the next few days via email, but either way I’ll definitely scan in the prints I ordered to share here. :)
Anyway, I should get back to my packing. My train to CT arrives at 8:05 AM and I’ve lots to do before then . . . including getting some sleep!
1. And probably very many of you who do know me only via the Internet.
2. Think what you might, but (a) it was the first place that didn’t gripe about taking photos of a dog when a “pet photo special” was not currently running and (b) I had a 20% off coupon I found on the Internet.
First Time at the Vet
Yara has what I’ve come to think of as a chewing OCD. Behold the proof, wherein she is so focused on chewing a knuckle bone I’d given her one morning that she actually forgets to lie down.
In fact, that particular day at work she spent quite literally the entire day chewing on said bone. At one point she chewed it for three hours straight without one single break even. Luckily for me the coworkers near my area don’t seem to mind the pretty obvious sound of my dog gnawing a bone, even when she gets so involved in it she actually starts breathing heavily. Really, it’s quite amusing.
In other news, Yara had her first visit to the vet’s yesterday. You’ll all be happy to know she is in perfect health; although, she has lost an incredible twelve pounds since first arriving at my home! My vet, who has a long history with Fidelco dogs having grown up fostering a breeding bitch and several career change dogs, didn’t seem overly concerned. She said it’s quite possible Yara is just very lean, but she was quite amused to have the rare opportunity to tell someone to feed their dog more food. To be honest, I don’t really see that she’s lost weight, but I did have to ask Fidelco for a new chest strap since hers had gotten so loose. Anyway, I’m to add another cup of food daily to Yara’s meal and we’ve got another appointment on June 10th to weight her again . . . and also get her AVID microchip¹ implanted!
This coming Friday, we’ll be taking the Amtrak to CT for Fidelco’s graduate dinner and walkathon fund raiser. So, please don’t be alarmed if there is a lack of posting or replying to comments here. Though, admittedly, my excitement over the trip has more to do with meeting Yara’s fosters, Patty and Tom, and spending the weekend with Raechel and James and their horde of dogs! But regardless, I’m sure we’ll have a grand time, even though the forecast looks like it’s going to be a pretty soggy weekend. I will do my best to both remember my camera and actually take some pictures to share. ;-)
1. One of the many membership benefits of IAADP, to which I gratefully thank Wendy.
Six Stars for EVO
I would like to say the discovery of this review makes me abundantly happy. Sadly, though, this section of said website is nothing short of appalling and yet certain guide dog schools who shall remain nameless might do well to take a look.