I didn’t mean to stay away so long, I just wasn’t sure what to say.

Thank you for the kind thoughts.  I wish I had the energy to reply to them personally.  Good people do that, don’t they?  They write thank you notes to condolence notes, return pans with new baked goods baked in them…not that anyone gave us baked goods.  I’m just sayin’.  There is a gracefulness to death that I have always lacked.  I have strength, and it is often called on by others so I suppose it is useful.  But alone with my thoughts, or in situations where strength isn’t called for, I feel more awkward than the time I jumped into a friend’s car assuming his mother had seen me when in fact she hadn’t and thought she was being car-jacked.

Side note to new commenters:  you have be approved once; after that every time you comment it will be automatically posted.  And if you commented for the first time and it didn’t show, let me know.  I have some rudimentary spam-blocking in place that has foiled a friend or two in the past.

Side note on the side note:  Is it weird that I am less offended at all the drug spam than the ones that say, “Good and informative site!  Allow us to be friends!” followed by six porn links?

So…our dog died.  And it was bad.  And I took a test the day after and didn’t do so well.

We’re still struggling.  And there are still many people who don’t know unless through the grape vine.  I only told the story to two sanctuary friends, although I know it was passed on so I feel strange as I talk about my Busch-less life with others and wonder if they know.

Due to scheduling issues, I haven’t been out to do trapping research since it happened.  I’m a bit concerned how I’ll feel stomping through underbrush after this snake encounter.  I’ve come across snakes during research before (no venomous ones) and delighted in the find.  Not sure that will be my reaction now.

But life goes on…the exciting thing I was looking forward to didn’t happen.  Four new cats were rescued from Ohio this weekend.  For a brief while it looked like I might go up before everyone else and do some training with them to ease the transport, but it fell through for legal reasons surrounding these cats.  I was disappointed, but now that it’s all said and done I can’t feel anything but relief that these animals are in a better home now.

(For those who are regulars, email or comment and I will send you a link to the story.)

Before that, the sanctuary had its annual huge formal ball fundraiser.  It was crazy and hectic and painful (I wore a long skirt and knee-high boots to hide both knee and ankle braces).  It was also successful.

Tom and I will be going to Georgia this weekend to visit his family.  We will be returning with his other dog Lady, a sheltie who has stayed with his parents since he moved to Florida.  I have mixed feelings about this.  I’m not sure the condo is the best place for her - she’s been an outside dog for a while and not having a back yard is one of the big reasons we hadn’t brought her down before.  Tom however feels life is very much lacking without a dog, and I am willing to give it a try for him.