Namaste II is almost here!

Life has been quiet around the Mansion East lately although we had just a bit of concern as Gert thought she was getting a cold 2 nights ago. I flooded her with these effervescent vitamin C tables that Sophia gets us (thanks SOPHIA!), set her up with a cool mist vaporizer, and gave her cordicidin throughout the night. So far, we've dodged that bullet. We did cancel a haircut for her though as neither of us wanted to take a chance of exposing her to the general public (for her sake or the sake of the general public!). She's feeling fine better now, but I'm still leary so everytime I hear her cough at night, I'm on point.

Namaste II, John's new boat, has been delivered to Miami Florida! The guy John bought it from outfits his boats down there in the winter - quite the nice gig. So, N2 is being outfitted with all sorts of goodies to make our summer totally da bomb! I'll be heading down there with the dogmobile in a few weeks so we can tow the new baby home. Before we head home though, we'll have 3 glorious days of sailing around the Gulf of Mexico - we'll anchor out at least one night and spend the other two in local marinas. We're still debating though - might end up in Key West since we're so close to my other home 'port' anyway. We'll see where the wind blows us!

Mom and I have been babysitting Bobbi's dogs for the past week while she's in, of all places, Istanbul! Who knew?! She's home tomorrow so we'll be back down to just 3 dogs - almost nothing! We have Kimmie's new lab, Rascal, coming in for a few days at the end of the month so that should be interesting. Rascal is another fantastic rescue dog - Kim and her family are very lucky to have this gorgeous lab in their fold.

My first experience at assisting in an dog obedience class last week went quite well. Killian came along as an example of a 'good dog,' and, much to my delight (and surprise....), he was just fantastic. For one exercise, I had him positioned in front of me with his attention focused on me while Nan tried to sway his attention - no go; that dog was so mine, it was amazing. He did everything I asked and a bit more. What a fantastic dog.

All of our dogs are doing quite well these days. Hops was on a muscle relaxant which seems to have really helped with a bit of soreness in the morning - to be expected with 3 legs and at 11 years of age. Barley continues to be a West Virginia lovin' dog and is with John's folks at his house in Berkeley Springs. I miss him most at night as he's my sleepin' dog - he always curls up under the blankets and keep me warm. Rita is, as always, just so grateful to have been found - she's Mom's lap dog when Matee is not here.

So, all in all, life is good!

I've continued my quest with eHow and writing articles. Still having a total BLAST writing these things. Here's my latest list (the first on is a riot...):

How to Find the REAL Lyrics to Any Song
How to Interview Vendors To Identify A Strong Data Management Solution for Clinical Trial Data
How to Facilitate Your Job Search By Working With a Temporary Job Agency
How to Remain Young At Heart
How to Conduct Yourself Professionally at a Temp Job
How to Find Creative Uses For Your Smartphone Cell Phone
How to Be Your Own Bartender and Make a Fantastic Whiskey Sour Cocktail
How to Get Reasonably Inexpensive Health Insurance When Unemployment Occurs
How to Use Good Nutrition and Make Small Goals For Weight Loss Success
How to Support Someone Who Is Unemployed
How to Sneak Calories Into An Elderly Person's Diet
How to Alleviate Homesickness at College
How to Practice Good Dog Park Etiquette