On Victoria Day, we met our friends James, Lori, Cobalt and Denim at Cherry Beach, which has an excellent leash-free dog park area right on Lake Ontario. Getting together at dog parks on stat holidays has become a tradition for our two families, and I was eager for Diego to join the fun. And join he did: I don't think he stopped running the entire time we were there. Including in the water! He ran straight in and kept on going, swimming like he does it every day. We haven't seen that love of water since our first dog, and she very rarely had the opportunity to swim. This really was a treat for us.
These photos are from James. You can see more photos of our morning at the beach in this Flickr set, although as James noted, the pics of Diego are all pretty much the same: happy dog running. (Lots more of James' photography here.)
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In general, Diego couldn't be doing better. He is healthy and happy and has blended flawlessly into our family. I notice that he's beginning to test his boundaries - putting his big head on the table while we're eating, or jumping up with his paws on the counter top - so we have to remember to be firm with our rules. But with humans, Diego's not wilful or defiant; he's goofy and eager to please.
He's dominating the hell out of Tala, but she's loving every minute of it. They tussle and play, and spend a lot of time chasing squirrels five metres over their heads. Tala defers to Diego in almost everything. He takes her toys, and she lets him - except for "the planet". She's protecting her Orbee, and he's respecting that. Tala has mellowed a lot. She's still lively and has plenty of energy, but she's fully an adult now. It makes me a little sad.
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The garden-ette is doing great. The tomato plants are four or five times larger than when I planted them, and the rose bush is filling out and getting ready to bloom. The daisies are struggling a bit. I'm not sure if it's from all the rain we had in May, or if they're not getting enough sun. They're kind of in the shade of the rose bush, something that didn't occur to me when I planted them. We shall see.
I'm overjoyed that the incessant rain has finally stopped. It was really getting to me; I felt spring and summer slipping away. Now the sun is out and I'm back to taking long walks with the dogs in the morning and reading on the patio whenever I can carve out a little time. Much better.
My research assistant job with the surveillance project continues. We're preparing for a public presentation that will update interested parties on IPSI's research, and this includes a brief presentation from me. It's a day-long event, and my portion is only 10 minutes, but still... you know. I'm not overly nervous about public speaking, but I'm always worried about my fuzzy fibro brain, especially on a Monday after my long weekend of work.
The volunteer gig reading to children at a community centre has been sporadic at best. It's doesn't feel very useful or interesting, either to me or the kids, more like just getting through something in order to put it on my resume - not exactly my usual mode of engagement. But the coordinators - who are iSchool classmates of mine, doing this for school credit - say they need people, and insist it is helping. I should be able to get a few more sessions in before the program closes for the summer.
I still haven't been interviewed for the page job with the Mississauga Library System, but I hear it will happen... sometime soon. With any luck the page job will begin as the volunteer job is ending.
And if you're still reading, wmtc6 is on Saturday, June 11. If you've gotten an invite, please RSVP; if I didn't email you and you want to join us, please email me.
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