Graduation day.

first a couple of more serious things. please say some prayers for my friend Tali's son, Jack. He's an adorable 3.5 year old who is very sick with leukemia and his counts are worsening. Tali and her husband are very devout Christians with a strong faith in God and prayer. as a firm believer in prayer myself, any additional positive thoughts or wishes i'm sure would be appreciated.

also, i want to give thanks for a moment that the nice man from downstairs is okay after having fallen through some ice at the dog park. he and his wife are the ones who let Neah out for us when we are out of town for too long during the day. i am grateful that there was someone nearby and that they were able to act quickly. The temperature has been rising well above freezing and clearly even the solid looking ice is not so much anymore.

graduation was not mine or adam's. the dog finally graduated from puppy class. mind you, we aren't sure what the requirements to graduate are, but we suspect them to be showing up and not being totally neurotic. Here she is in her graduation cap:

puppy class has been an adventure. we (and i'm using "we" generously since i ditched neah and adam for a couple weeks in there) started with four dogs in the class and at the end it was just these two:

Ranger and Neah. Ranger was an abandoned sled dog. Unfortunately for Ranger, his owners feed him too much and he's looking "plump". Neah likes to pounce on his head.

the ones that didn't finish were:
1. some kind of schnauzer mix named Bo, who made a lot of barking noise, but was doing better. he was hampered by embarrassed parents who didn't work with him at home

2. an overly anxious german shep named max whose family was somehow more anxious than he was. I think 120lbs of dog was just too much for them.

So, now we have our monday nights back and one slightly better mannered puppy who barks anytime a door bell rings, including on the tv. but she is beyond cute--see, here's my proof.

we take her on nightly walks to a park nearby--where she gets to run/bound free, unless/until a person on a bike comes by. she's decided that the fact that they are in/on a moving vehicle is a personal affront to her, or she wants to herd them, i can't tell which. this also covers cars. hopefully, we can get that sorted out soon.