Hi Friends –

It’s about (past) time for an update in the life of this service Dane. I know things have been busy around our kennel and Dad was telling me how National CP month has come and gone and he hasn’t been able to share with you what he’d hoped to. I know he has at least two posts started and I liked where he was heading so I will try and talk him into writing them, no matter what the calendar says.

I know Dad likes me to share fun, positive, uplifting kinds of posts and doesn’t want to get bogged down with daily life and bore our friends with normal life, but I insisted that he start writing for me. He wanted to know what I was going to say since we’ve all been “just working” our tails off. I assured him that our readers are our friends and they like the “boring stuff” as long as they hear from us. I told him we need to talk and share everything, just like we promised.

This past weekend was stressful for me in a way that I’m not used to. Dad worked both days in the basement and he didn’t let me down with him. He was up and down but he basically made me stay upstairs, even when I kept telling him that I didn’t like this plan he ignored my whining because that is where the basement monsters go to get away from me. He finally broke down and allowed me down with him and a friend after he moved the cat’s food out of my reach and closed the litter boxes in a kennel crate, but since I never get to go down there it was all so new and they were moving a lot of boxes and tools we decided it really wasn’t the best place for me after all. Dad decided to put the gate back in the doorway and deal with my complaints from a distance. Mom told me that they worked really hard and it looks great. Dad said he will bring me down later in the week to check it all out. Dad and Shane (mostly Shane, for safety reasons) moved boxes up off the floor and on to shelves they had built together last year. They threw out so much it did a really good job at filling our dumpster and organized what they could. Dad’s only rules were that no tools would be tossed and nothing from Mom’s moving boxes since she needs to sort and decide if she can clear some items as well, once her semester ends. Dad was able to give some things away, moved a desk so mom has a space to be creative and sold a boat and motor that will help make our future move more manageable. He says he still has more to go, and wants to clear and organize more.  We also got a couple more shop lights put up so it makes the space a lot less creepy and easier to do laundry. Dad said he also wants staging space for putting in new kitchen cabinets. He says they made a great start. As the night wrapped Mom made everyone dinner and surprised him with early birthday gifts and a chocolate cake because our human puppies share time with their biological Dad and won’t be with us for the big day later in the week.  We shared this event with Shane, too. Dad was happy he stayed because he was so thankful for the help and to have such good friends in his pack. When Shane headed out and we put the puppies to bed I cuddled with Dad on the couch. I wanted him to know I love him so I put my head right on his lap. I never do this with him, I save that for Momma, but I don’t like any time away from Dad so I had let him know I understood, but didn’t have to like, the separation.

This morning as we were getting ready to go to the office Dad was telling me how he was feels like he needs more time to finish everything. I reminded him of something we talked about in the truck when Mom and Dad took me to Walden Pond and Concord Massachusetts last fall. It’s a quote from Thoreau, who said…”if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.” I am confident we are moving toward our dreams. I assured him everything is perfect and there is no need to worry about anything.