No, my dog isn't spoiled

It's a strange world

They say that when you get a pet you often get one very much like yourself, whether intentionally or not. This is proving to be the case with Claire, my twelve-week (or so) lab and rottweiler mix puppy, in more ways than one.

I am not what one might call an "excitable" person. Even when I am internally bursting with excitement, externally the only really visible sign of this excitement is that I start speaking more quickly than I normally do. Either that or mouth lifts a bit to form a subtle smile. Sometimes, though rarely, both happen.

When the Pope arrived in Sydney for the World Youth Day, I was very happy and extremely excited, though if a stranger looked at me he would likely not have noticed.

When the soccer team scored a goal, I was happy, though, again, a stranger might not have known, unless he saw me applaud.

Claire, too, is generally calm and quiet. Except on days before a storm system moves in.

Whereas my arthritis acts up considerably two days - generally - before a weather pattern arrives, Claire becomes exceedingly hyper the day before a system moves in.

Together, we make a pretty good forecasting team. If what I at first feel remains dubious, I can simply ask Claire in the morning what she feels and she can either verify or correct my initial thought. Though tiring, it is handy.

I can also be rather stubborn. Claire, too, is stubborn, though she has by far outdone me on that one. Hopefully we can work on that together.

Say hello to Claire

Last night I returned to Virden with Claire. She is about nine weeks old and is half lab and half rotweiller. She is very calm and loves to lay on me, either my lap, my feet or even my legs.

Once I put her bed and a toy in the front seat of the car last night she made the trip very well. I hope she'll make a fine travelling companion. Tomorrow I hope to make a little visit to Effingham, both to drop off the rectory key that I forgot to leave behind and to introduce her to Molly, my previous pastor's German Shepherd. I think they'll get along very well.

One of my parishioners has already referred to her as my "fuzzy executive assistant." This afternoon she proved his point.

She put her front paws up onto the chair at my desk and tried to hop up but couldn't quite make the jump. I lifted her up and placed her on the chair, which she quickly seems to have taken over.

She's very intrigued by my keyboard; now if she could only type.