The week leading up to Easter

 Sunday April 13

My two fur-loves!  Emberville had a quietly good day on Sunday.  Mom napped on the couch after Ember's "good girl" leash walk in the morning.  Ember loaded up into the car in the afternoon to go to the foster grand kiddo's soccer game.  She can't be down where the fields are, but I walked her on the grass along the sidewalks between the parking lot and the field entrance ramp.  

She did very well with the situation, though clearly a bit freaked out by the hordes of people exiting the last set of games before our special star arrived.  She walked "easy", paid attention to mommy, and got her training treats for being such a good girl.

When the kids and foster kiddo arrived, she got a bit overexcited and jumped on my DIL, but she gave foster kiddo's soccer ball back, earning a "thank you" treat from me.  And then she was good on the way back to the car, with pauses to look at the people coming and going.  And loaded up perfectly on cue when we got there.

Home, chill time, and into the crate for mommy to have her own supper in peace.  Ahhhh!

Monday April 14

Mom ate too much on Sunday, resulting in a slow start to Monday.  I did things in a slightly different order.  Ember called me on it.  She likes her routines, don't you know?  Typical canine.  But we got a leash walk in, during which she found her "prize", a dead mouse.  She carried it all the way home, where I got it away from her and into the trash.  

She jumped right on into the car on the "load up" cue, so we went for a ride to the drive-thru pharmacy to pick up my eye drops.  Then she complained just two barks worth when she got crated after the ride and settled in to nap when I put her music on.  She knew it was time.  

Later in the day we took another car ride, played fetch with various items in the back yard, and got a second leash walk, during which fine manners were displayed.  The major distraction on the afternoon walk was the wind... blowing the blossoms off trees, making the various human flags flap and carrying scents to tease the puppy's nose.  Mom has begun to notice allergy season (for her) is here!

Checked in with Scott, who is helping with Ember's field training and let him know how much her "load up" has improved, as well as her leash manners.  We might get a Wednesday afternoon session in with him.

The wind was gusty Monday evening.  It did me a big favor.  A few days ago, I messed up a throw of a rope "dummy" I was playing retrieve with.  The toy landed on my roof, in a very awkward place, above the steps down from the deck to the patio.  I thought about how I'd need to place a ladder and whether a broom or a rake might have to be wielded to hook the rope and pull it down.  I thought about the risk of it falling into the gutter and blocking water runoff, too.  I decided I would wait until Ember was next in daycare, which would be Tuesday.

But Mr. Gusty the Wind decided to take care of it.  When I went out to let Ember have her "last call", there, on the patio, was the dummy!  I did a double take, because I have two.  I wondered if this was the other one, not the one from the roof, and trotted back up the stairs to the deck to see if the one on the roof was still there.  Nope.  Opened the sliding door so I could see the counter.  It was indeed the second one!

Together again!  And I hopefully will not make the same throwing mistake again.

Tuesday April 15th

Tax day!  Mine were done last month already, because I have to know for budget planning purposes as soon as I get all the paperwork I need.  But it is a date of significance.  

Ember was happy to go off to her day care program, and she came home to the lawn service guys, who fawned over her.  She ate that right up!  I took her on a walk around the block, as well, and she showed off good self-control.  She demonstrated a calm greeting with a neighbor dog, a child, and the Mommy attached to the dog and child.  She also did a very good "load up" both before and after day care.

Wednesday April 16th

Several days this week have been highlighted by smoky air.  Flint hills region of Kansas doing their annual controlled burns are what the weatherman here blames.  Bad air quality is not good for me OR the doggo, and we were under an air quality warning from 6 p.m. Wednesday to 6 p.m. Friday.  

Ember had a very busy Wednesday.  She got a morning walk with just mom, a lunch hour run with Scott, and we joined the puppy parade at 4:15 p.m. as well.  The "bug guy" came right after we got back from the session with Scott.  The puppy parade was a serene one, with both Barnaby and Ember being well exercised earlier in the day, and Frank being the elder statesman of the canine trio.  

We always let Frank lead the parade. He is a rescue and particular about other dogs who might jump.  When Ember is calm, as she is when she's had her exercise, they seem to get on fine.  When she was younger and jumped more, he would rush at her, and she would flee, but I think they're going to get on fine as fence neighbors in adulthood.  Neither is much of a barker.

Thursday April 17th

The personal trainer has another job as a track coach, and his school had a track meet that interfered with the Thursday schedule.  Ember went to daycare, as this is her routine on Tuesdays and Thursdays now.  I did a bunch of "human stuff".  This included recycling electronics, vacuuming, laundry... the usual stuff, but more of it since I didn't have my trainer workout.

After Ember came home from daycare, I fed her and as she was chilling, I nodded off on the couch.  

Friday April 18th, a.k.a. Good Friday

Thirty-eight years ago on April 18th, I had just arrived home from a longish (at least for me) business trip to Italy.  It was the day after Good Friday, as I flew on Good Friday from Rome to JFK, of Al Italia airlines.  The food was great, but 38 years ago, they allowed smoking on board, and the way they arranged the smoking / non-smoking sections was such that I was bothered quite a bit by it.

Ember and her hu-mom got in two leash walks, and some "interesting" games of fetch, during which Ember tested the rules of the game.

What I threw off the deck is the 4 inch tennis ball.  She raced out to it, picked it up, then spotted something more interesting and dropped the ball to sniff at a piece of lava rock that likely washed into the back yard from the neighbors' yard.  

Ember then seemed to remember that she was in the middle of a retrieve, and raced back to the porch without the ball, but with the rock. She dropped to her belly on the deck to chew on it.  Oh, well!

I put the rock "away" and tossed another ball.  She retrieved the first ball instead of the new one I threw (different colors).

Weekend plans include an egg hunt for the foster grandchild, at the mythical son's house.  Ember will have to behave and stay leashed at my feet during the actual candy searching.  Carl, too.  

Easter Sunday morning the annual traditional church and brunch with my older sister and her gentleman friend will be the highlight.  Monday will be the running of the Boston Marathon.  I remember last year streaming it while dealing with my young puppy.

Here's hoping a good holiday to all who are observing Passover or Easter this weekend.

Life is good.  Chaos is not.  Spark on!