A dog's life

What a life.

• Our lives have have been consumed with Toto for the last week. Poor Tia. She basically ignores him though a couple of times on our graveyard walks - when Toto is engaged in rough play with another dog - she intervenes, almost like she is protecting him. Tia is definitely getting less attention because Toto can hear, follows everyone around, and wags his whole body when someone awakes or walks in his general direction. Poor Tia.

• From my point of view, Toto has blended right in with the family. He is now loose in the house at night with Tia and thus far we have had no episodes. He is basically trained with the electric fence though he did run thru it when Doug had the weedwacker going. He doesn't like loud noises - who does?

• I found out Toto can make some noise when he wants to when he found a snapping turtle in the graveyard. This is the most I've heard him bark since his arrival. The turtle snapped at Tia's nose, but she escaped. Daniel touched it's shell. We left well enough alone and haven't seen that old snapper since.

• Now I realize that as an unemployed person I have limited stuff to talk about with my husband at night and with you. I talk about the graveyard walks, who we met today, and what Toto did today. (He kicks out his feet in the grass after he poops, lie a real male dog.)

• So I hope I am not boring you too. This quiet life has become quietly fasicnating. I have been taking the dogs for walks daily - sometimes with Daniel and sometimes alone. Alone I met another unemployed person named Steve Rogers. How nice to have such a simple name. He asked me a couple times - and your name is? He's an architect and said there is another laid off person who walks her dog in the graveyard named Myrna. I'm sure our paths will cross. Hi I'm Mary Smith - it would be so simple. It is good to know, in a Schadenfreude kind of way, that there are other laid off people in my little world.

• Steve's dog was the first dog I've seen Toto really play with and he held his ground. He didn't roll over on his back like I thought he would. He proved to me he's a regular pup with other young dogs. You see at home, Tia basically ignores him, so I didn't know.

• Today, Daniel made his usual beeline for any sightings of humans/dogs and we met a new dog and owner. No names exchanged yet. This dog was rescued by a friend of hers from a listing on Craigslist. This beautiful Golden was left in a crate all day barking and going crazy. The owner said something about submissively urinating but I'm not sure what that means. Anyway this dog went from being crazed and afraid of almost anything - clouds for example, to a well behaved, friendly, gorgeous dog. Another reminder that people who really don't want or plan to take care of a dog, shouldn't get one. This gal Sadie was an Xmas present for the kids. Poor thing. Toto was running circles in the graveyard with Sadie and Tia joined in. Daniel loved watching his action.

• Good thing I'm still home unemployed (I start work July 1) because the strawberries are in and that involves daily picking. One pie, desserts with Cool Whip, frozen berries in the freezer awaiting something, and a giant bowlful on the counter awaiting perhaps another pie. Unlike store-bought berries, decisions about these berries' fate must be made within a day. Makes you wonder what do they gas the berries in the store with? Or soak them in?

• Mom comes for a visit on Wednesday and SOON Doug and I will be making daily trips to the Belmont Market for Willow Tree Chicken Salad. She's addicted to it and Doug was wondering how big a container he could buy. She'll eat a contractors bucketful in the week. More on this next time.