Tuesday and Wednesday

Tuesday, as Ember's "letter to management" would indicate was "a day and a half" so to speak.  For one thing, it was another of those super-hot days.  I think it topped out at 97℉, and Wednesday was to be about the same.  I heard one weather man mention the heat index, and I don't even want to think about it.  

Not supposed to chew on the Muddy Mat, Little One!  So trying it out again on Tuesday was a "fail".

Also not supposed to pull the cushion off the couch and gnaw on it.  Some days she is better about this than others.  Tuesday she got it off, and Mommy had to put it back together during one of her puppy naps.

The heat after Puppy Agility class (held at 5:30 p.m.) made it challenging to get Ember back into the car.  Black upholstery, black seat protector, charcoal fur?  Yeah, HOT!

I opened all the doors, poured some water into her folding dish, and put the highest value treats I had all over the back seat.  Even then I had to lift her up halfway, so that her nose was enticed to motivate her to follow it.  Bottom line, we got home ok.  

Real victory was that she didn't poop in the gym this time.  She did three rounds of agility runs, with two other dogs taking their turns.  She did very well (for her), only knocking the jump poles off twice).  I'm calling it a win.

The online "games" Collar grab was incorporated throughout the day, just normal actions.  "It's Yer Choice" (IYC for short) had two non-video recorded sessions.  Sometimes I have to choose where to spend my energy, and I'd just got home from my own workout with the trainer.  Do I take time to set up the camera, or do I interact with my dog?  I chose Ember.

The first round of IYC, the treat we were using was part of a banana.  I usually give her a few bits of my morning snack banana.  She did great generalizing from the cheese and chicken liver treats I had used on Monday.  Only a couple of tries to get it before she settled in to good choices.

We made mommy's lunch (she gets cucumber, tomato, and cottage cheese, in small amounts when Mommy has her own salad).  After lunch I boiled some eggs for future use, and I started to peel them.  Ember decided to put her paws up on the counter while I did and of course I removed the paws and told her to wait her turn.  After I'd peeled a couple of the eggs, I selected some chunks of shell with which to play IYC.

She was doing OK, but after the eggshell round, I was peeling some more. A bat poked himself up out of the garbage disposal (into which I was going to toss the shells).  I freaked out.  "Ember, come help Mommy with the bat!"

Of course, she did not.  Remembering how my husband had handled a bat that got into our house back in NY state, I grabbed a Rubbermaid container and clapped in over the exposed bat.  Said bat was opening its mouth and the teeth were showing.  Yikes.

I freely admit I would not make a good Buddhist!  Knowing that at least one rabid bat had been found and tested locally, I flipped on the disposal, ran the water... no more bat.  But now I have the heebie-jeebies in my own house!  I wonder if there are more bats... like above my head in the roof space?  

Ember thought this was great fun.  She grabbed the mate to the Rubbermaid container and ran off to the living room to chew it to smithereens.  Oh, she also nabbed a flyswatter that I had first chosen to deal with the bat, before I went to the plastic container.

Enough of the bat episode!  

Tuesday afternoon:  Ice melting on the deck. Unlike an earlier hot spell, I didn't have to have Ember on leash, workmen in the yard, etc.  I could just toss the ice all over the deck and let her choose which ones to play with.

Wednesday report

Ember went out on a long walk and had puppy nap number 1 before the vet visit.  We fit in two sessions of Game #2 IYC, one with cheese, one with bits of banana.  One before the vet visit, one after.  She did very well, but I messed up the camera setup so no video to upload!  Human error with the remote control.  I had three minutes of unusable hilarity because Ember knocked over the camera and then the angle didn't get her in the frame at all.  It amused me, but I pitched it.

The vet tech took blood.  They'll have results tomorrow and call me if they have any issues that would cause a delay in her surgery.  Oh, and she now tips the scales at 55 pounds.  Keeps on growing, this puppy shaped weed!  I have to deprive her of any food Friday morning before I drop her off at 7 a.m.  

Alicia came over after her workday.  It was way too hot to walk, so we demonstrated the game (for a bit) to show off Ember's smarts and put the fur-baby to bed until "last call".  Then Alicia went home and the thunderstorms hit.  Last I heard, power was out at Alicia's place, traffic lights were out on my son's commute home, and when I went outside to assess, I found big branches down in my neighbors' yards to the North and to the East.  Do you wonder about the work the landscape folks did on the drainage?  Well, it works, but it's not perfect.  I still have a big puddle.  I'll check again in the morning, to see if it persists that long.

Where the water drains to the street.

The puddle it was supposed to drain from!

To the North of my yard, the branches spilling over into my yard.

To the East of my yard.

They were already out there with the chain saws doing cleanup this evening.

Life in Lincoln is a little disjointed tonight, with many folks cleaning up from those storms.  But life remains good.  Spark on!