I'm A Little Behind...

Seems "the hurry-der I go, the behinder I get". Today will be spent starting and completing ONE project because I've been neglecting my craft time.

But more importantly, I'm going to spend the day catching up on my blog comment correspondence. I fear that some of you might think I don't love you anymore because I haven't responded to the generous remarks you've left for me. Nothing could be further from the truth. I always read and enjoy everything you write to me, but have been lax of late in replying.

Today, I'm going to go through all the notes sitting on my server and (as long as you're not a "no comment blogger" - meaning you haven't left me an edress for response), I'll write a note to each of you. I suspect that this is going to be a major undertaking, so please bear with me.

You can't imagine how upset I would be if I thought any of you were angry with me for not writing back, so I'll do my best today and over the next few days. Intermittent web service, Taggart, a little travel and a monster case of laziness are all to blame. So, today, I'll put on my big girl panties and get to the business at hand. If you've left a comment for me in the past month and haven't heard back, prepare for a barrage of gratitude from me to you!

I just realized that I've written over 800 posts since I started blogging, so next week I'm going to have a giveaway...for my followers only. You deserve a chance to win something for always putting up with me! I'll see if I can't come up a giveaway that you'll really like.

This Week's Book Reviews...

I recently told you that I was going to read "Edgar Sawtelle" by David Wroblewski, and I was really looking forward to this book. It's set in the real northern Wisconsin town of Mellen in the Chequamegon National Forest (pronounced she WA me gon). It's a place I know and love. The central story revolves around dogs...another favorite topic for me.

I'm going to be brutally honest with you now. While there were so many wonderful dog stories told within the covers of this 800+ page book, I was actually angry with the author's non-treatment of the ending.

I'm not the kind of person who requires a happy ending. I can take sad endings, too. What I can't abide is an author who just decides that after having your undivided attention for that many pages, he has to wrap up the book in - oh, say...four pages - and get this book to print. In my estimation he just ran out of interest in his own writing and walked away from it. (Imagine rolling a bowling ball across a kitchen table and just letting it fall when it gets to the edge.)

There were so many loose ends, unresolved issues and wonderful, full characters just left hanging at the end. He apparently just decided, "Well, enough is enough. I'll just kill 'em all off." Really! I was more than mildly peeved. I was throughly incensed.

Here's my advice. If you want to read the book for it's amusing and interesting dog stories, go ahead and borrow the book from the library - or a friend who already laid out their hard-earned cash - but (here's the important part), stop reading the book before the final chapter and make up your own ending. Anything you can imagine is going to be 1000 times better than what the author wrote.

Barring that, steer clear of "Edgar Sawtelle" and read something anything else. Eight hundred pages is a lot of wasted time to get to this author's pathetic attempt to wrap up his storyline.
On a happier note, I also finished reading "Water For Elephants" by Sara Gruen last night. Filled with flashbacks that only enhance the storyline, this book is a great way to spend a few summer afternoons. (Don't forget to pour yourself a tall glass of lemonade. You'll understand why later in the book!)

I'm much more apt to read the book than see the movie any day, so pick up a copy of "Water For Elephants" and sit back and enjoy the vivid images that the author helps conjure through her writing.
Next up is "The Art of Racing In The Rain" by Garth Stein. Another book involving dogs (I'm told). I'll let you know what I think of this one as soon as I'm finished reading it.

Tuesdays With Tag - Getting Along With Kes...

Kes asked me today if I was actually going to start writing about her newest little affliction.  I had to explain to her that Tag's fans are anxiously awaiting news of just how he's fitting in here at Brynwood.

She just sighed and said, "Fine. When are you going to write about this old dog? Tag. Tag. Tag. All I ever hear is Tag!"

I told her I'd include her in my first official Tuesdays With Tag post. That seemed to settle her down a bit. It's really difficult nearly impossible to take Tag for a walk that Kes doesn't want to hobble along. Seems she's more jealous than protective, but she tolerates him as long as he isn't trying to bite her face or feet. She hates that!
We took him for his first visit to the vet last week and I'm proud (and relieved) to announce that he's received a clean bill of health. The vet says he's perfect...having all the essential elements in all the right places. You know how happy we were to hear that good news! He also has spots on his tummy that our granddaughters refer to as "polka dots"...and our grandson says that Tag reminds him of a little bunny when he's lying down. Our own little "bunny butt with the polka dot tummy"! I like that.

Tag officially weighs 15 pounds, and as you can tell from the age ticker that I've installed on my right sidebar, he's now three months, three weeks and two days old. Pretty soon he'll be growing into those ears of his!

He's doing a fine job of becoming a good corgi citizen. We're working on sit, stay and "don't jump" right now. All the little girls love him unless he jumps up on them. It's just not the polite thing to do. I've been telling him about the adventures he's going to have once we start herding tests, so it's very important he learns the obedience basics first. He's not convinced yet, but we'll keep working on it anyway.

He also learned a new trick last night and jumps through my arms when I hold them in a circle. He did it about ten times before he lost interest. Once I know it's not a fluke, I'll ask Handsome to do a little video that I can share with you.

Well, Kes just came to inform me that I've written quite enough too much about "that darn corgi" for this week. I'll make sure she's napping next week when I write his post. We don't want the Labrador getting her nose out of joint, after all.