A Year Later

I knew it was "about this time" a year ago that I let Sunny go but I couldn't remember the exact day. It was 3 days ago. I had to look here in the blog to figure it out.

I'm surprised now that I didn't really write much about Sunny himself in that post. How he came to me as a foster who needed a quiet place to recover from knee surgery for 2 months and my place was quiet, with 13 1/2 yr old Network, my first Lab, winding down to his last days. How I knew immediately that he'd be a great therapy dog and someone would surely want to adopt him and do that with him. But after letting Network go, I needed Sunny. And having seen what he did when I took him to the respite foster while I was dealing with Network, I knew Sunny needed me. His name at Safe Harbor was Sonny, but he was clearly Sunny. So I adopted him and changed his name, and he promptly tore his other ACL. I wasn't as well trained about the recovery therapy as I was later when I took Xander through it.

The most memorable thing about Sunny was what a good patient he was. 6 months after he finished his recovery from the 2nd knee, he started having seizures. We got those under control and then he started having eye problems. By the time we finally got to the point of removing his eyes, he was up to 24 eye drops a day, 4 different types of drops, and 3 or 4 oral meds. But he was such a trooper. Giving him pills was never a challenge. When it was time for his eye drops, he just put his head up, eyes open, held still and didn't fight it at all. One time in those years I had to give Star some eye meds and it was a battle to the finish, serving mostly to make me realize how lucky I was that Sunny was the opposite.

He did work a bit for a couple years as a therapy dog in Reading Rovers, but his medical conditions kept him from doing as much as I had hoped. I hope a teenager somewhere out there remembers a special dog that listened to them read back when they were in the first grade. I hope he made an impact on some young lives.

Once his eyes came out, he was finally free or in control of all his medical conditions and, after 4 long years, less than that even, life was finally good for our little guy. He was happy, fearless when out and about in new places, and so easy going. He had 4 more wonderful, healthy, uneventful years and then a swift decline with minimal suffering.

The time/place I sense his absence the most is on road trips and dog walks. Enjoying complexity as I do, I liked the challenge of juggling three dogs in and out of the van on long road trips, in the dangerous heat of the summer and the dangerous extreme colds of the winter that we traveled through. He isn't missing from our home because he never lived in this one. We lost him about 6 weeks before moving into the new house. But our walks and road trips are less complex, not necessarily a good thing in my book.

I also kinda miss having a special needs kid. There's something special about the one that needs a little more care and protection. But really he didn't - he was the most independent of my three and if allowed off leash, he just trotted off happily, following his nose, without a care in the world.

Reflections 2017

December 10th, 2017

I'm standing in the Spokane Airport on my 3rd trip to Boston this year. I arrived here at 7:30am. My flight has since been pushed to 1:30pm. If I were to say it's one of the most relaxing mornings I've had this year, it wouldn't be much of an exaggeration.

Boston Harbor in August.

  I work in the tall building on the left.

I don't have good travel karma for business trips in December, but I make the best of it. One year I flew from SFO to Chicago, headed for a meeting in North Carolina. Delayed in San Francisco, I wrote all my Christmas cards. I eventually made it to Chicago, spent the night, and, with no possibility of making my meeting, I flew back to SFO the next day, after sitting next to a window for most of the morning watching the snow fall. It was probably one of the most relaxing days that year too.

So, back to 2017. The job drama from previous years continues. I started the year in Utah. Job eliminated in March due to a merger. Bye bye Utah. Headed back to WA to be near my parents, who are hitting 80.

Playing with Mom's new tablet

With Star in my new backyard

Exiting Utah was quick and fairly painless, although a little exhausting, due to the work I did to get the house ready to sell. Why didn't I fix those inherited paintless spots earlier - it sure looked nice when I left it that Thursday afternoon as it was going on the market. Half a dozen offers came in over the weekend in a super hot market - it sold for more than the listed price by the time I arrived in Washington on Sunday. Happy Birthday to me.

I quickly landed a great job at a company I had first interviewed with 6 years before. Neither of us was ready for each other at that time and of course things worked out for the better. If I had gotten that low level accounting job way back when, I would never have been qualified for the job I got this time. It was the experience that I gained in the years in between that made it possible to get this job. I also would never have gone to Utah and made some more friends, mostly from agility. Maybe my life is just about moving around the west and collecting friends.

Paddle boarding on Liberty Lake

with Donna from Utah.

Maiden voyage of campers

with Laura from Washington.

My next order of business was securing housing - always a challenge with 3 dogs. The market was pretty dry, but I had been doing my research for 3 months already, and had identified a new home neighborhood that might work. There was only one lot left in the phase that would be completed this year. Only 2 models were allowed to be built on that lot. Of course one was the one I had already had my eye on. My life just works that way (except when flying for business in December).

Bonus - it was a corner lot!

Now I had to secure temporary housing for the summer. Of course there was one perfect little apartment available on the outside of my preferred complex - just a few doors down from where Sunny and Star and I spent 3 great years while one of us was getting a Master's degree, one was getting certified as a Reading Assistance Dog, and one was getting her first titles in agility.

Sunny, Star and Xander in June on the Centennial Trail

just a stone's throw from the apartment.

I kinda miss the challenge of walking the herd,

or juggling the herd when traveling.

I just realized the order of things stated above is not correct - in fact it is completely reversed. I had identified the job I wanted but due to the travel schedule of the Greek hiring manager who was in the process of moving from Rome to Spokane, I didn't get the interviews or the job offer until after I had made the deposit to have the house built, and I had lined up the apartment as the first order of business. I knew I was going to move here and planned it all so that the home was modest enough to manage regardless of the job I got. And there is that good move/job hunting karma that I enjoy and, for better or worse, have come to rely on. Now if only the job-keeping karma would kick in.

Here's the tissue paragraph - we lost our dear Sunny in July. He never made it to the new house. You can read all about it in the previous post, The Empty Dog Bed.

Sunny in June at the apartment

Despite the long hours at the new job, I enjoyed monthly trips to visit my parents 100 miles north at their lovely place

 

and agility competitions approximately monthly as well. Our results weren't spectacular as our training time was minimal, but Xander is awesome and . . . oops, we're not there yet.

Things started heating up in August. The temperature. The final touches on the new house. And a new toy for agility - a little popup camper.

Had to look twice, didn't you?!?

I took a week off work at Labor Day, but it wasn't any more relaxing than the time I was off work in March and April. We were finally moving into our new house. A week later, we took the new camper on its maiden voyage.

Xander in the doorway, singing his hound song.

All the pieces were finally falling into place. I discovered I still had too much stuff, despite my best efforts to get rid of stuff before leaving Utah. As I write this, I still have half a dozen boxes left to unpack, and a few items in storage waiting for spring when I can get a shed built. But the little camper and the van are both in the garage for the winter, and the dogs are cozy in front of the fire.

And that super awesome agility dog I hinted at earlier . . . he stepped it up a notch in mid-October and was brilliant at the last trial of the year (for us) in early November. We got one of the two titles that were on the line that weekend, and only missed the other by a hair due to specific skill gaps, the solution for which was already waiting in the wings in the form of an online training class that I had lined up for the winter break from classes.

Weave pole entry training in the hallway

Only one other thing to mention as I wrap up the year is my darling little girl. She is still healthy and photogenic at 9ish. She didn't love agility, so I let her slip quietly into retirement so I could focus all my attention on learning a completely different handling style for Xander. Star is now an agility support sibling and enjoys our monthly mother-daug-ter trips to see Grandma and Grandpa while Xander stays at home with the sitter.

My most precious girly doing a little pretzel twist with her legs.

Xander and Star distracted by

Grandma on the porch, fortunately, 

as I wasn't getting the shot I wanted.

Xander watching me work (except 

probably not because I must have been

taking the picture) with Honey the Horse

in the field outside my home office window. 

Xander showing what he thinks of Star

taking HIS seat while I work.

Mind Meld? How can we get Mom to 

stay home with us more in 2018? 

You got your wish, kiddos, kinda. For the 4th time in 4 jobs in 5 years, there was major upheaval within 6 months. The latest merger has me reporting to the accounting team in Boston now. The team there is great and I'm enjoying my frequent cross-country trips. 

And when I'm in WA, I can work at home a couple days a week. Here's to a good 2018 for all.