You've been blessed

Moxie has had a packed social calender this week.

We met up with the gang at the dog park last friday. My friends dogs stuck nearby, frequently returning to their moms to check in. Now Moxie. She was off and about being a social butterfly. Any dog that wanted to chase, or any human that wanted to throw a ball was fair game. She had a wonderful time. She ran around for two solid hours, and still wanted to play when we got home.

This week we've had two therapy visits. Thursday morning it was cooler than it has been (but still in the 80's) so I got up early and took Moxie to the park to play ball and have a walk. She played fetch with her usual exuberance for about 20 minutes before running off with the ball and laying down next to the car. Game over? She has NEVER voluntarily ended a game of fetch before, so I was a bit worried. I walked her around and made sure she wasn't hurt or sore. We got a drink and rested in the shade, but she was done.

That night we had a visit at UBH. I was afraid she would be drained. I need not have worried. She was in fine form. She was the favorite for the kids to run the agility course. She must have run that course a dozen times in half an hour. She was barely winded. Then she played with the next group for another 30 minutes, doing her tricks, demonstrating obedience skills, loves and cuddles of course and a couple more rounds on the agility equipment kept the adults entertained for another half hour. As that group left, another group of adults showed up. We were only supposed to be there for an hour and the other dogs were exhausted, but Moxie is the energizer dog. She doesn't get tired. We got out her holee roller ball (which in her opinion, is the best toy ever) and she played catch and fetch with the men for another fifteen minutes. She spread a lot of joy that night.

Today we had a visit at the senior care center, a nursing home in Denton. Its a huge facility, it took us nearly two hours to get through it with five dogs. Everyone loves seeing the dogs (well almost everyone) Moxie seems to know she's making people happy and joyfully goes up to each resident for pets and cuddles. She minds her manners and refrains from giving kisses (her favorite thing to do, I call her the stealth smoocher because you never see it coming)

After the nursing home, we headed over to the St. Barnabas Episcopal Church in Denton for their annual "Blessing of the Animals." I figured we could use all the blessings we could get. It was nice ceremony, with lovely prayers and bible readings punctuated by the ocassional bark. A few ill mannered pooches caused a couple of ruckuses but for the most part the dogs (and one cat) were all well behaved. The priest seemed quite taken with Moxie and took a moment to rub her belly after he blessed her.

Mom says I brought the wrong animal to be blessed. I told her that perhaps the Annual "Casting out of Demons" mass would be more appropriate for the cats.

Little heathens.

Kobie is doing okay. He's still in pain. He is eating again. *sigh* I just don't know what to do with him.

Midterms this week. Off to study!