In between trips to my daughter’s to help with the twins, I found time to add to the Memory Book that I am making for them. These photos just lend themselves to a little Shakespeare. I used lines from the song “Brush Up Your Shakespeare” from the musical “Kiss Me Kate” for the titles and quotes from “Romeo and Juliet” for the word balloons.

The puppies graduated from advanced class this Sunday. What a thrill to watch them go through their paces in an almost perfect manner. When I think back on bringing our 3 month old babies in and pulling them across the slippery floor of Petsmart in the hope that they would learn to walk on a leash, I realize how far we have come toward having them registered as Therapy Dogs.

It was a sad day too because I love the trainer, Cathy as well as Annie, the other woman in our class and her dog Mattie. I hope that the friendships began at PetSmart can continue. I am optomistic because while fighting back tears, we promised to have a class reunion soon.

We stopped at Cosco before coming home. Bob went into the store while I stayed out side with Lucky and Luann. As they sat watching people go by with carts and warehouse flatbed wagons. I was filled with pride at my calm well-mannered babies. i believe they are the best puppies ever.

By the way, they are Downtown Maltese. While at PetSmart, a young man, his wife, and their eleven month old Maltese stopped at the training center to inquire about a beginner’s class. There were my ten month old babies waiting to go through their paces. No doubt that the couples’ Kiki was a beauty and of the type of Maltese you see in magazines and at the Dog shows. Trying not to sound snobbish, (They really were a nice young couple.) the husband asked the breed of our dogs. Both looked a little surprised when I said, “Maltese.” We talked about the differences in our dogs and I couldn’t resist remarking, “Well you have what we call an ‘Uptown’ Maltese, Lucky and LuAnn are more ‘downtown’ . . . closer to skidrow.” Everyone had to smile at the comparison and Cathy, our trainer, thought it was a great description. I don’t care if they don’t look like show puppies. They are bright and full of energy, and so ready to please. Those are values worth a lot more than curly hair and longer ears.

Update on Kristi
My daughter has gone from wheelchair to walker and is now using crutches. Her X-ray last week showed the bones to be knitting well and no surgery will be required. I am still going down there two days a week so please understand if I don’t get around to visiting your blogs or commenting. I am really enjoying this opportunity to spend lots of time with the twins and it feels great to be needed.

Awhile back I wrote a post about dancing in the rain. It was prompted by this quote sent to me by a friend:

“Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass,
It’s about learning to dance in the rain.”

Little did I know at the time that more than a gentle mist was about to descend on our family, particularly on our daughter, Kristi, who for the past few months has been on an emotional roller coaster ride.

The many ups, downs, and terrifying turns came to a screeching climax one day about a week ago when, while out dirt-bike riding, she took an unfortunate tumble over the handlebars and fractured her right leg.

After a few days in the hospital, it was decided to set and cast the tibia and fibula rather than do surgery. So the bones were set, the cast made, and after a brief time in physical therapy, Kristi headed home in a complete leg cast and a wheel chair.

Those of you who have been following my blog, know that Kristi is the mother of 20 month old twins. Not an easy proposition when the sun is shining and the world feels right and obviously more than challenging at a time heralded by thunderclouds and giant downpours.

Knowing she would be arriving home in a wheel chair, it was, so to speak, time to choreograph the dance and make plans for Kristi to have assistance with the little ones. Her former partner and the children’s other grandmother already care for Eric and Danica from Sunday evening to Thursday morning. So those days were pretty well covered. It was decided that I would drive down to the condiminium early Thursday mornings, stay overnight and return to Ridgecrest on Friday evenings. Meanwhile her friend, Theresa, with whom she is living would be there evenings and on the week-ends.

To make a rather long story short, I just returned from my first two days of helping out. It feels so good to be needed and to feel I am contributing in a positive way. (BTW, Who wouldn’t love a little more time with their grandchildren?)

I have no doubt our Kristi will weather these storms that have encircled her the past few months. It is in her nature to survive and to find happiness. I know this in my heart and see it with my eyes as I watch her meet this latest challenge of dancing on one leg while smiling through life’s latest tempest.

Here is my latest Memory Book page. I bought the tee shirts at what my daughter-in-law refered to as a “Yuppy dog store”. True, they cost a lot more than the ones I order from Collections. Perhaps, it is the word “Stanford” that brings the price higher.

It is funny, but I swear my dogs love to dress up for photos. In the past, I have written a lot about the training classes for Lucky and Lu Ann. We are just two weeks away from finishing the Advanced Class. They have been training now since they were 12 weeks old and will be nine months old when they finish. So maybe they never will get to Stanford University from Advanced Class at Petsmart, but a Pet Parent can dream right along with them. Right?

I have just returned from a most delightful trip to Northern california where I spent. time with my daughter-in-law, Rhea. We had for a long time talked about a Mother-Daughter Week-end similar to the one that Kristi and I do each year. John, her husband and my first born, had planned a kayaking and biking tour in Norway. He would be gone for ten days. It seemed the perfect opportunity for our adventure.

Although the original plan was to meet somewhere on the coast half-way between our two homes, we needed to make a change when Rhea and John’s Golden Retriever required emergency surgery on her back leg and was in need of constant care. So we rethought our plans and decided that I would visit Rhea and help care for Cara. I boarded a bus and then a train and made my way to San Jose where Rhea and Cara were waiting to take me to their home in Palo Alto.

Rhea and Cara in the stroller after meeting me in the Amtrak station.

Yes,you heard right. Cara, the Golden, was there to greet me sitting up proudly in a Schwinn Twin Jogger Stroller and looking none the worse for wear. She is not allowed to walk yet, but she certainly rides in style. How proud I am in the knowledge that all of my children are with partners who are humane animal lovers. Growing up, my kids were always surrounded by cats, dogs ,birds, and even rodents and snakes when they could get away with it. It shouldn’t surprise me that their partners are also loving pet enthusiasts.

Enjoying a cup of coffee at one of the many restaurants.

To sum up my trip of three nights, and two days, it was one of scrumptious dining in Palo Alto’s finest restaurants, a tour of the Gamble House and Gardens, an easy hike in the Arastradero Nature Preserve and an evening at the Stanford Theatre where we saw Paul Robeson in the original movie version of Show Boat.

The Gamble House and Gardens

Too soon it was back on the bus and train and an eight hour ride back home. The closer I came to Mojave and my patiently waiting husband, the more anxious I was to see him and my own beloved pets. I love to travel, and I would not have missed this trip for anything, but as I came closer and closer to Ridgecrest, like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, I found myself clicking my heels, and saying three times, “There is no place like home! There is no place like home!, There is no place like home.”

Rhea and I are already making plans for next year’s Mother-Daughter Week-end.

My sweet husband is sleeping in. The dogs are eating breakfast, and I have a few moments alone with the computer. I love early morning and the quiet anticipation of a new day.

Yesterday, an email from a friend brought this quote:

Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass,
It’s about learning to dance in the rain.

It woud be impossible to reach my age and not have had the rainy times so I relate well to the idea behind the words. In my life, there were storms that made dancing impossible. Storms that tore at my soul and weighed my feet down in such a leaden way that I thought I would never dance again. Like a storm, bad times pass the cloud leave, and the sun shines again. Does it shine the same as before? Not really, but I think now I welcome its warmth in a more subdued, and I like to think, wiser manner.

And there were rumbling thunderstorms that threatened floods and tore at the foundation of all I believe and required the sandbagging of my integrity and respect to hold back the threatening waters. There was no time to dance. Perhaps, looking back, I should have made time for a slow waltz or foxtrot. It might have made the struggle a little easier

Of course there have been lighter rains, annoying little rains that not only dampen my spirits, but cause me to feel irritable and out of sorts. These require a little dancing, a jig here and there, and maybe some high kicks just for emphasis.

So in the sunny days that now surround me, I will practice my dance steps so that, if and when the storm clouds roll overhead, I will be ready to raise my face to the rain and dance.

Our little town was just hit with a summer downpour including marble size hail. No damage seems to have been done here, but I am not certain what devastation this latest storm has caused closer to the Sierra foothills that have been ravaged by recent fires.

Meanwhile, we have changed our plans to go to Dog Training and have opted for a drier evening by staying home, fixing some veggies and dips, and just enjoying the cool weather brought to us by the storm. This is more than a practical decision, it is also a cautionary one because, although the rains have stopped, our skies are still dark, and off to the west, there are distant slivers of lightning in the sky followed by the sound of low rumbling thunder.

I love this photo because it captures the joy of living in the moment. Bob was out videotaping the storm from the garage and I went out to watch with him when I spotted the kids playing out in the street. I ran back in the house, grabbed the camera, and captured the moment.

Our lives have been pretty summer dull. The weather continues to be desert hot and now with the monsoon flows, humid, too. The puppies and I are in the siesta routine and sleep an hour every afternoon. I do their training in the evening. Bob sits outside with Sammi and one puppy, while I take the other around the block practicing heel, sit, down, and stay. Then when I get back, we exchange puppies and I go through the routine again, while Bob, the old Doxie, and the trained puppy wait for me to return. Guess who gets all the exercise! Bob has that Tom Sawyer ablility to get someone else to paint the fence or in this case, train the dogs.

Both dogs love to tear apart kleenex, paper towels, or toilet paper. They are ingenious in their ability to steal and we have caught them slipping out the doggie door with various kinds of paper products. On occasion, a room or the backyard looks like it has been T.Pd by a group of high schoolers celebrating Homecoming.

As annoying and challenging as their actions have been, I couldn’t help but laugh when I discovered LuAnn in the middle of this mess in our bathroom. How could anyone stay upset with that sweet little face?

Take care my blogger friends. Thank you so for many sweet emails. I promise to do a better job writing and reading blogs.

Maybe it is because of the high price of gas, or maybe it is the smokey skies from the latest wildfire, or maybe it is just summer laziness, but whatever it is, Bob and I are staying close to home for the Fourth of July.

So if you are doing the same or if you are out partying wildly, we both wish you a Happy Fourth of July and if you enjoy Trivia try this little quiz I found on the internet.

Fourth of July Trivia

1. Who is not credited with possibly creating the flag of the United States?

A) Betsy Ross
B) Francis Scott Key
C) Rebecca Young
D) Francis Hopkinson

2. Which two U.S. presidents died on July 4, 1826, 50 years to the day after the signing of the Declaration of Independence?

A) John Adams and Thomas Jefferson
B) James Madison and James Monroe
C) Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren
D) James K. Polk and Millard Fillmore

3. Which of the following is not a city in Iowa?

A) New Liberty
B) Libertyville
C) Libertytown
D) West Liberty

4. When is Flag Day?

A) June 8
B) June 14
C) July 3
D) July 5

5. Which territory was formed on July 4, 1838?

A) Iowa territory
B) Michigan territory
C) Missouri territory
D) Louisiana territory

6. When was the current 50-star iteration of the flag instituted?

A) 1948
B) 1955
C) 1956
D) 1960

7. What is the highest grossing U.S. film released over the Fourth of July?

A) “Spider-Man 2″
B) “Finding Nemo”
C) “Independence Day”
D) “Forrest Gump”

8. When was the last time Independence Day fell on a Wednesday?

A) 2000
B) 2001
C) 2002
D) 2003

Key: 1. B 2. A 3. C 4. B 5. A 6. D 7. D 8. B
And once again, Happy Independence Day.  Lucky and LuAnn in the firecracker collars are the safest fireworks around.  This is their first 4th and I hope the noise does not scare or upset them.  This is another reason to stay close to home.  Of all the holidays, this one with its fireworks seems to be the most pet unfriendly.

Click on photos to enlarge

Lucky and LuAnn graduated from the Intermediate Class at Petsmart with flying colors.  I am so proud of them.  They have mastered so many skills in the five months that they have been learning good pet ettiquette.  I took these photos just before Graduation with a little help from  Photoshop and Print Shop.  Two weeks off and then they will begin the Advanced Class.