More about the dog. Just a bit...... Well, the cheese worked for getting his antibiotic in for awhile if I kind of shoved it in his mouth with the pill wrapped in it. But this morning he decided that, no, he wasn't interested in the cheese anymore. I think he caught on. Huskies are smart dogs. So, I found the peanut butter, spread a bit on and in it went. Hopefully, the pills will be used up by the time he catches on to this trick!

I was planning on going to see my mom tomorrow (the three hour drive away) and my sister, but have decided that it might be a bit too soon for a long drive yet. My knee is so much better than it was two weeks ago (surgery day!) but it definitely lets me know when I have overdone it. But, I am improving and that is my goal. I see the orthopedic surgeon this afternoon and then am on my own, unless he recommends physical therapy. I have been trying to do the exercises he gave me but do forget occasionally. I know that is not a good thing; I need to be more diligent about them.

Three more official days of work this semester and then on to summer hours. I know I am lucky to have the schedule that I have. There will be a couple weeks off and then just three mornings a week for six weeks. Then almost five weeks off! I will be using some of that time to figure out what and how the Fall semester will go. Really, I will.

While waiting at the veterinarian's office to have Klondyke's long overdue dew claws looked at, I was thinking of the responsibilities of having a dog. Klondyke was Amy's dog from her CA days and when she moved to St. Louis, he moved, too. When she moved to the Chicago area to work for a large company and travel a lot, it was not so easy to keep him with her. He had been staying with us while the move was going on - three months or so. And we fell for him. He is a Husky with great characteristics: friendly to people (not at all a guard dog!!), fairly good at following directions (Bob says he has no loyalty though because if he sees another dog and isn't on the leash, he is gone), loves to go for walks (keeping us fit and active) and eleven years old (fits well in our - dare I say it - aging household).

A number of years back we lost our twenty pound "pound puppy" named Checkers. She was a great dog for our young household. But she did have reputation with our friends and neighbors. I used to joke that her nickname was "Checkers, don't pet the dog, Wilcox" and everyone came to know what that meant. She was a nipper. Looked rather angelic, but she was a bit dangerous with company.

We had pretty much decided not to get another dog. You know, traveling, activities, work, etc. But then Amy needed assistance, so what do parents do? They assist. Ando so, we have an almost eighty pound, furry (really furry!!) dog who needs care and attention. Not such a bad thing, unless the care needs slip past us. His dew claw nails have been growing in circles for a little while and I always said I would get him in soon. Well, today he was licking and licking and I finally took a hold of his paw -- he growls when you do this so I don't do it often! - and it looked like blood was involved. Such guilt... I took him in and the nail was growing into his pad! So they clipped it out and clipped all his nails and he is on antibiotics. Or I tried to put him on the medicine. He just played with the pill. I have talked with Amy and he likes it with cheese!!
So responsibility, all the time and not just for the fun things....and we wouldn't have it any other way.