Guess Who's 15!!!!

Only THE best dog to ever grace a family's life.  Murphy Watertails Hendricks; la grande dame of Labradors turned 15 this past weekend.

 She joined our family at 8 weeks.  She's an Empire Loyalist hailing from regal Kingston Ontario.  We flew her to Calgary to become a redneck dog.  She's never looked back.  She spent five years being the center of our world...till J came along, and he became the center of hers.

They're quite the team these two, and have been since the very beginning.  I could drown in a well as long as she is beside him.  I'm sure it had NOTHING to do with all the food he dropped.

 ....or the spoons they both got to lick.

When I lament the passing of time, and J's evolution to the big and beautiful boy that he is now; it is these images of J and Murphy that are forever etched in my mind.  One hand on his beloved bottle, the other curled in her fur.  Everyday...EVERYDAY.  She has the patience of Job.

Even when at age 7, we flew her to Geneva for five years.  She never missed a beat.  Of course, there was no quarantine in Switzerland, just a really nice vet at the airport.

Murphy was beside J at every first day of school.  Every one and I have the calendars to prove it!  The only exception was day one down under when she hadn't yet joined us.  But we made up for that.

In February 2011, Murphy safely landed, at age 12,  on Australian soil after a looooong solo trip that took her from Geneva to overnighting in Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to Melbourne.  I'm not exaggerating that it was one of the happiest days of my life when I finally got to see her at the quarantine facilities where she spent the next 30 days.

 On day 31, I took her to the beach...

I'm pretty sure she thought it was worth the wait.

Through thick, thin, many miles, and 10 years together, they're still a team.

They don't come much better!  Happy birthday Murphy, we love you to the moon and back but know that every day with you now is your gift.

Distracted

Yes, it has been a while since I last posted.  I occasionally disappear, as regular readers will have observed, and express my creative energies elsewhere.  Or maybe that’s just another way of saying, I’ve been distracted.  Did you know that you can begin a sentence with “Or”?  I was told this during a Plain Language Writing workshop this week.  You can also begin sentences with “But” and “And” and “Because”.  Interesting no?

I have been distracted/occupied/engaged elsewhere for the last few weeks.  And (are you noting the use of “And” at the start of this sentence) lacking a desire to write, I am, instead, composing a list of where I’ve been.

WHERE MY ENERGY HAS BEEN DIRECTED

1.   Supporting and encouraging a heartbroken 20-something,

2.   Grieving an old friend in a battle he is losing,

3.   Editing a friend's second novel; I do love the editing process,

4.   Convincing J of the relevance of fractions, long-division, and conjugation of the imparfait tense,

5.   Prevailing upon C2 to see a doctor; being validated when C2 was diagnosed with Shingles,

6.   Re-applying for my Canadian passport.  Examining my new passport photo and wondering why my cheeks seem to have moved south when compared with the photo from five years ago,

7.   Working an extra day a week for the last two weeks at Child Wise,

8.   Wondering why in spite of all of my exercise and healthy eating, I am looking less like Carmela and more like Janice,

9.   Binge-watching Breaking Bad.  First half of season five done and awaiting the last six episodes with much impatience,

10. Mourning the all-too-fast passing of time as I look sideways at J, when yesterday I looked down and knowing tomorrow I will look up,

11. My new iPhone, au revoir Blackberry.

WHERE MY ENERGY CLEARLY HAS NOT BEEN DIRECTED

1.  Blog,

2.  At the tumbleweeds of Labrador hair rampaging through my house,

3.  Blog,

4.  Resisting TimTams,

5.  Blog,

6.  Demonstrating patience whilst convincing J of the relevance of fractions, long-division, and conjugation of the imparfait tense,

7.  Blog,

8.  Ignoring the all-too-fast-passing of time as I look sideways at J, when yesterday I looked down and knowing tomorrow I will look up.  Because (I started a sentence with“Because”!) it’s better than the alternative,

9.   Blog,

10. Any writing of my own,

11. Blog,

12. My to-do-list,

13. Blog,

14. Planning….anything.

I will aim to do better.