New Puppy

I know it's fast. I'm still collecting little drifts of Nora's sheddings from various unexpected parts of the house, and am barely past the point of expecting her greeting when I walk through the door. But another dog was definitely going to happen, since it seems to be an important part of the way I deal with Rick's travel schedule. And after a week of mourning Nora, it gives me someone else to concentrate on and distract me from too much useless emotion. So meet Luna:

That's not some weird reflection in her eyes; they are actually blue on the bottom and brown on the top. She's about 14 weeks old, and the vet report hazards a guess that she'll be about 40 pounds as an adult. And with those eyes and her brindle paws, he thinks there's some Australian Cattle Dog in her genetic makeup.

In any case, I was actually looking at another dog (older, and at least partly house-trained) when this little girl stole Rick's heart. She does seem to have everything we could wish for in temperament, even if she did manage to both pee and throw up on me in the car on the way home. She's smart enough to have figured out in less than 24 hours how to get through the barrier between the tile and carpet areas of the house, and also smart enough to learn that she's not supposed to do it (at least, while I'm watching). And she sleeps in her crate just fine at night, even if she's not wild about it during the day. Does anyone have any idea how long potty training might take with a little girl like this?

Today is also Lucas' 19th birthday. I made him sweet rolls for breakfast, and gave him a big birthday hug. He's been sweet and caring of feelings around home, is doing well in college and is highly conscientious about his work and class schedules as well as his financial obligations. I told him I think adulthood is working out well for him thus far.