Puppy Pictures (8.5 Weeks) And Other Musings

Flash, 8.5 weeks

What a wild and crazy week! Between work at work and work at home (which is often harder than work at work), I accomplished a great deal. That's always a good feeling!

Noah, 8.5 weeks

One of the at-work activities was a seminar on Tuesday about team building which involved a survey to help us determine which "type" of group member we were. I turned out to be a "Contributor" and must say that the survey pegged me correctly. I focus on details, am organized, make sure people have the information they need (whether they think they need it or not!), tend not to see the big picture (the details get in the way), and am not very tolerant of people who (in my opinion) waste time.
Our Center at Western Illinois University is mostly funded by state grants for early childhood. We provide workshops, training, and consultation services to teachers and families of young children with special needs. One big "oh no" this week created some panic and havoc when I found out I had to recalculate the budgets because the fringe benefit rate had been increased more than anticipated. Ouch!

Rain, 8.5 weeks

The at-home work this past week has involved a lot of grocery shopping, meal planning, and cleaning in preparation for a visit from our daughter who lives in Miami and who has not been home for a visit in 14 months or so. Our youngest son will arrive sometime today for a visit today also. We haven't seen him for a while either, and he lives only 3 hours away! It will be good to have the whole family together again, even just for a few days.

Rafe, 7 months

Rafe, 7 months

We managed to get a couple cute pictures of Rafe this week. He's 7 months old and looks so big...I think it is all that hair! Lynn caught him yawning just as he snapped a picture. I think it looks like he's yelling "stop with the pictures." He is not the most cooperative dog we've ever had when it comes to posing. He is a also a big momma's boy. It's nice to be idolized, but he's become my shadow! His next shows will be this coming weekend. I'm excited about being in the ring with him and Maggie again.

And, as usual scattered throughout this post are the latest pictures of the puppies. They had their first baths yesterday, a process that was not traumatic for any of them and actually I made it through the 5 of them without getting wetter than they were. I consider that a successful outcome.

Cooper, 8.5 weeks

Boomer, 8.5 weeks

Last night I had big thrill. There's a carnival in town for Macomb's Heritage Days celebration. Klara, our granddaughter, wanted to go on some rides, but when it came to the Scrambler, her mom said, "No way" to accompanying her. She's only 6, so no way was she riding on it the first time by herself,  so Grandma volunteered! (I was secretly itching to do it!) I haven't been on a Scrambler for years. What fun! Klara loved it and I confess that I did too. (I think we're going back downtown tonight and riding it again!)

Life is good when you have a Lhasa to love you! (and add to that...the joy of family togetherness and the thrill of sharing a carnival ride with your grandchild!)

Cheers!

Joyce