A Wee Too Much

The past two weeks I have been very busy with my job.  I know that I can be a bit of a workaholic, but I enjoy being good at my job.  Plus, I want to make sure that my students are learning the information they need to be good nurses.  I have been grading papers that take me about 2 hours a piece to finish.  In addition, I have been prepping for 5 different classes, grading assignments, and grading midterm examinations.  I spent a couple of night pulling all-nighters (as if I was working in the hospital again).  Well, my body finally gave in and quit.  Today I have a headache, sore throat, gunk in my throat, and exhaustion.  I am staying home from church, one my couch.  I am hoping that this is going to help me overcome this little illness sooner.  I don't have time to get really sick.  Sometimes I think that I need to slow down, but in reality I know that I am much happier when I am busy and productive.

He Can Bark!

I heard his bark for the first time yesterday night.  There are railroad tracks next to the dog park that I take him to practically every day.  A couple times a week a train comes by and he runs directly to my side.  The other night the train came by and I decided to walk toward the train.  Harley followed me and as we got close to the fence, about 50 feet away from the train, he barked.  He barked four times and then stopped.  His bark was surprisingly deep.  I suppose it is an adult male dog, but he is missing part of his man parts, so I would have thought with less testosterone in his body that his voice my be a little higher.  Not a bark since then, even tonight when he ran head first into the glass screen door.  He was really excited to get back into the house because it was really windy outside.  He is not exactly the bravest dog, but he is extremely sweet.  I haven't met a person, or dog he didn't like.

Aaaahhh!

Today was gutter cleaning day.  I have heard a rumor that it might snow on Tuesday night. Today was the day to prepare.  I borrowed a 16 ft ladder from my home teacher.  I was tall enough to be able to reach my hand over the gutter and pull stuff out, yet feel uncomfortable up there.  I don't have a fear of heights, but I definitely have fear of falling and becoming a human vegetable.  I got them cleaned out and new flood lights put in outside the back door.  Yay for seeing outside at night when you need to go outside.  As a girl living alone I love knowing if something is lurking in the backyard when I am headed out.

Next year I am going to find a 20 ft ladder....I think it will be much safer. 

He was a Good Boy.

I left him alone in my house for the first time today for 4 hours while I went to church.  He was so good.  He didn't touch anything.  Yay for finding an excellent dog!

Meet Harley

 Anyone who really knows me, knows that I have wanted a dog for a long time.  When my family got a dog (after I had moved out), I would go home just to visit the dog.  Sometimes I get lonely and many times I have thought about getting a dog.  Typically, I realized that I was too busy, lived somewhere that would not allow pets, or just overall needed to take care of myself and not a dog.  I have been looking at dogs online of the past few weeks.  I felt like I really wanted to get one.  I was looking at rescue website and the animal human society website.  There are so many dogs out there who are older that need homes and many more people who want puppies, so I decided to go with an older dog.
Last night, since I didn't have any big plans that evening (I rarely do), I headed out to do errands and thought I would run over to the Animal Human Society here in Golden Valley (a neighboring city).  I walked in and was in love with so many of the dogs.  There was the cutest American Bulldog there.  She reminded me of "Return to Me".  I love that movie, but the dog had so much energy and was chewing like crazy on my hand.  I thought, this dog will chew up my house.  I kept coming back to this sweet black lab.  Who would gently come up to the front of his kennel and sit patients will you scratched behind his ears.  I took him into a visitation room and he just wanted to cuddle or play fetch with a tennis ball.  He was so sweet.  I knew that he just needed to come home with me.  So, I came out the Animal Human Society the owner or a sweet boy.
His name is Harley.  All that I really know about him is that he is a lab mix.  He came here to MN on a puppy train.  That means that another shelter in Alabama had too many animals, so they brought many of them up here to MN.  I was told he came with a group of 59 other dogs.  I guess that means he might be a University of Alabama fan, "Roll Tide," right Will?  I was a little worried about how he would handle all of the construction and things without homes in my house, but he has been a champion.  He only plays with the toys that I bought for him.  I got him a crate, which he refuses to get into.  He slept the night on my couch.  He can't go up my stairs, they are too slippery and steep.  This means that he will be living on the main floor.  The picture above shows a line where is gentle guide leash rubbed against the hair under his eyes.

 The following is the list of stuff I have figured out (I decided that if parents can do this for their kids, I can do it for my dog):

• He doesn't bark at anything (I don't even know if he can bark)
• He only eats and drinks if I am not in the kitchen where the bowls are at
• He only sleeps on the couch
• He is social, he loves other dogs and children
• He is overweight.  He needs to lose about 15 pounds
• He knows sit, stay, go, up
• He loves his walks...although they end up more like runs
• He loves, loves, loves to be scratched and petted
• He loves to fetch tennis balls.  He brings them back, but he gets so excited that sometimes it is difficult to get it out of his mouth
• He has one little twinkle toe (it is golden)
• He has an ear infection that I am treating with antibiotics
• He is very calm.  He does not jump up on people or counters.
• So far no accidents in the house, although I don't know how he tells me that he needs to go outside.
• He enjoys watching people out the windows, but mostly just follows me around.

•  He has lovely brown eyes

And here is a photo of his extra weight.  I guess I don't get to sit on the couch anymore.