Valerie~ I'm so sorry to hear about your loss. It is always such a huge disappointment, and it is hard not to know what went wrong.

Kim, I'm happy to hear that your son is doing OK. My nephew's been through that twice, both times due to bicycle accidents. He had some short term memory loss the first time. How long before he can resume active activities?

Grace and Al, sorry to hear your having some setbacks, and hope they are shortlived.

Hi to Rachel and Anne, and in advance to everyone else. I do always enjoy cathcing up here.

We visited our new puppy yesterday. Didn't take pictures, though, because we ran out of time and had to make a quick exit to get J to a birthday party. They were little dark brown puppies with eyes still closed, but the mom was really sweet. She had no problem with us getting close and petting her while she was nursing her pups. We'll go back in another 3-4 weeks, and maybe get a picture then.

If it wasn't for our ten year old, we'd possibly skip another dog altogether, or take an older dog. But, J missed out on Ginger as a pup by three years, and I wanted her to have the experience of nurturing and teaching a new puppy. I also hope this dog will be with us until J leaves for college eight years from now.

Not much else new here!

Cara