Getting back to normal (or some semblance thereof)

I'm back from my annual Christmas trek home to my parents place. I left Spike and Sophie behind, at Rebecca's and lugged Miss. Murphy with me so at least I'd have some company on the drive. I figured, she's small, how much trouble could she be?

The first day she showed everyone how much... I left her in her crate, while my mother and I went shopping. She was crying when I left and apparently never stopped. It got so mindnumbingly bad for my dad, he let her out of her crate. She insisted on running slightly neurotic laps around the house until it drove him even crazier. So, he attempted to recrate her, which Murph decided wouldn't be happening any time soon, thank you very much. He finally cornered her on their bed where she promptly peed when he reached for her. Sigh. Thank you Murphy, you've made a great impression. He unceremoniously locked her back in her crate, and he hunkered down to wait for my return. The rest of the trip was interesting to say the least; Murphy loved, LOVED playing with my mom's dogs. She spent hours wrestling with Buddy, the Bichon mix. But, when there were too many people around (which was often), she hunkered down under the table with a long cover on it, and hid. Or, worse, would bark from her safe space. I knew Murphy was shy, but this was way beyond what I expected, to be honest. It got so bad, actually by the last day I was there, she decided to stop eating even. Needless to say, she slept most of yesterday, but by last night was starting to bounce around like normal. This morning, she's truly back to normal, jumping around like a Jack, wrestling with Ben and chewing on a bone.

Spike and Sophie had a great time at Rebecca's. Sophie, for some reason insists on eating strange things and throwing up, without fail, the night before she returns home. Rebecca has grown used to this occurence at least and is never really worried about it; she knows all about the labby propensity for throwing up. They were both exhausted yesterday and slept a big chunk of the day as well. That's good, because I'm back on track today with getting Sophie back in shape; she has some serious fetch to play as she continues to rebuild muscle tone.

Ben trundled off to another kennel for the few days I was gone; Bec was full and Joanne had room for a large New Hope dog. Benny had fun, playing with lots of other dogs and continuing to learn about things like stairs and crates and the like.  He's a good dog, but not very food motivated at the moment, so is interesting to work with and teach. I picked him up yesterday and all is back to normal here. He goes for his neuter today, then I am not sure how many days I'll have him. The family he met liked him (if you like labs, there's nothing really here to not love!) so he'll leave for his trial as soon as he's recovered enough from his surgery. They have a very young child so whether Ben stays or not will totally depend on how gentle he is with her. The initial meeting was fantastic, but I keep thinking, I've barely had the boy at my house. Really, I feel like I am still getting to know him so until he goes on the trial and they see how he settles, we won't know.

Anyway, I love being on a complete break from work and school! It gives me time to hang out with the dogs, quilt (yes, all washed and it's starting to fray nicely. It's on my bed now), read books for me (as opposed to research!), even write a little. I am hoping to do some cooking and maybe even a bit of baking. I am a little dizzied by how fast the break is going and while I do enjoy routines, it's lovely to develop a different routine for a couple weeks. Ah well, before I know it, it'll be winter break.