A morning walk gone bad

This is apparently what you get for getting an early start on the day. Usually Penny and I take a walk around 8 in the morning, and then I either head into work and she sleeps, or work from home and she sleeps. We take a 1 mile loop around the neighborhood, smile and say hi to the other walkers going the same loop the other way, enjoy the out of doors before it gets too hot to enjoy. It is typically uneventful, possibly a squirrel to chase or a blue skink, but calm.

This morning, we went out closer to 7:30, and we met the one mean, aggressive dog in the neighborhood, who also has somewhat incompetent owners. We were walking down one side of the street, and I saw an older couple walking what looked like an older black lab and a younger, stripey mutt walking toward us on the other side of the street. I raised a hand and said hi, as is customary in the neighborhood. The man responded in kind, but the younger dog started growling and making the weird, whiney noise some dogs make when they raise their hackles.

 I saw the woman walking him stop and crouch down beside him, looking like she was holding him tightly. Penny was walking calmly, pretty much ignoring the dog, so we just kept walking. We've had a couple rescue dogs in the neighborhood whose owners do the same thing, where they stop, make the dog sit, and kinda sit with the dog until the other person passes by. Heck, I did it with Penny for a while when we first got her and she still had her street-dog nerves.

Just as we passed them on the other side, I glance over to see how the other dog is doing because he's still really growling, only to see him slip his choke collar and come at Penny. His owner starts screaming at me to "pick her up!", I'm trying to put myself between the dog and Penny while pulling Penny to me so I can pick her up (the other dog was maybe three times her size), so poor Penny ends up getting choked herself until I finally get her up in my arms and the owners come over to grab the dog. The man of course still had to hold onto the black dog, who wasn't too happy by this point, so as quickly as I can I just walk away, still carrying Penny.

I put her down about half a block down when I couldn't see them anymore. I was shaking, and Penny was coughing a little, but by the time we were half way around the loop, she was acting like nothing happened, and I was still shaking. I checked her out when we got home to make she wasn't hurt. I got a few scratches through my clothes that didn't break the skin, but we were both basically unhurt, somehow.

Penny's been quieter today, and a little skittish, and I temporarily lost the ability to do basic math (I tried to pay a $34 tab with three twenties. I had to stare at the twenty the cashier was trying to hand back to me for a good 30 seconds before I comprehended why she was trying to give my money back). I wish that I had gotten the name of the owners, but that "run away from the dog trying to bite you and your dog" instinct is seriously strong. I can probably find out from the other walkers if I really want to, but in the meantime I got a good harness with a handle so if we run into them again, I can easily scoop Penny up without choking her.

Mostly, at this point in the day, I wish that dog owners wouldn't buy choke collars. They are very hard to use correctly and very very easy to use incorrectly. On a dog that is already borderline aggressive, if you use it on them everytime they see person and growl, you are teaching them that new person = getting choked. And of course if you release the tension on it, they can easily get out of it, as this dog did.

We won't be taking walks at 7:30 anymore, I think.

What 3 years of marriage has taught me

This week my husband and I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary. I made a pull-out-all-the-stops dinner, and we drank champagne from our good crystal. And then we happily collapsed in our chairs to watch TV together, because life has presented us with a wonderful opportunity that will mean a good bit of change in our near future, all for the better but nonetheless exhausting.

It also lead to me to reflect on what a strange state marriage is. I would choose to marry my husband over and over again if given the choice, because for all the little ways he can annoy or infuriate me, I can't imagine sharing my life with anyone else. We are two very stubborn, argumentative people. We courted for 4 months by walking around campus and debating everything under the sun. Though I don't believe in soulmates, his existence and the fact that we, improbably, found each other is almost enough to convince me. He's a friend, a partner, a confidant and whetting stone. We've worn down the rough edges on each other, without wearing each other out.

Part of making marriage work , I've realized, is recognizing the importance of the day to day things. He makes sure to call me when he leaves work so I can time dinner correctly. I make sure to do laundry frequently so he is never out of socks. I  keep the kitchen clean and stocked, and he keeps the bathrooms clean and stocked. Grand romantic gestures are nice, but so is not having to do that chore you hate. Waking up on a Saturday morning to the sound of the bathrooms being cleaned is one of the best gifts my husband can give me.

Three years isn't long in the grand scheme of things. But having now spent 12.5% of my life married to the man whom I impressed by arguing him into silence in Philosophy 101, and who impressed me swing dancing, I hope to spend 100% of whatever years remain to me, married to him.

Surpise Gardening

Our front yard is, quite frankly, a disgrace. We bought our house in winter, so we pardoned the yard for looking dreary. We decided to wait and see what bloomed come spring and summer last year, because everything in North Carolina bursts into bloom eventually. 

Nothing bloomed except one staunch stand of  gladiolas. A variety of weeds sprung up. Dirty got washed away and we got to experience the power of erosion. Dear Husband was able to keep most of the grass mostly alive, but the large 'natural areas' that are nominally my arena were  and are terrible. 

That ugly, scraggly azalea is the only thing that should be there.

Of the green things, pretty much none of it is supposed to be there. 

I have bad luck when it comes to most plants. I killed a mint plant once. You can't kill mint with fire, but I did with my amazing plant-killing powers. 

But I thought I might be able to keep shrubs alive. They are already fairly sturdy when you buy them, so as long as I got ones that weren't too condition picky, I should be fine. I bought a few test shrubs a couple of weeks ago and they have been doing fine. Japanese privet is  perfectly happy in my strange clay-and-rotten-mulch soil.

Yes, clay, like the stuff you make pots out of in art class. 

A little cleaning and firing from a pinch pot. 

Dear Husband has deplored this state for some time, but knowing nothing about gardening, felt he couldn't really do anything about it. 

So while he was at a conference last night and today, I made a couple runs to the Home Dopey, as my dad calls it, or the Home Despot, as my husband calls it. The first run I got 6 japanese privet plants, and on the second run I got 6 more, plus a long handled digging spade, because short handled edging spades are not the tool to attack clay or roots with. 

Penny helped keep me company, and dig test holes for roots and rodents.

Yes, her entire head is underground in that photo. 

I planted 10 of the 12 plants (roots + rain stalled the last two). So now our front  yard looks like this

The plan is to have them grow into a nice hedge to line the driveway and help keep the erosion at bay. These will start the process, and if I like how it's going I'll continue it all along the driveway, which will take another 18 plants or so. The next step will be  to cover everything in a layer of pine needle hay, which will hide/kill the weeds and help the privets grow (fingers crossed). 

Dear Husband will be home from his conference soon, and I can't wait to see the look on his face. 

Comfort Food: Pierogies, Sausage and Peppers

Here's something you'll rarely see anywhere: I've been trying to recreate a dish from the college cafeteria for years.

And yes, I mean a dining hall, not a fancified food court like some schools have. Over cooked vegetables, lots of things deep fried or baked within  an inch of their lives. Most days the only truly edible thing in the dining hall was the pizza, unless you arrived in time for the special, which was usually pretty good, but limited in quantity.

But there was one thing that the ladies in the dining hall kitchen did really really well--pierogies, sausage and peppers. I have a few theories why, but this is one of the few dishes I really looked forward to when it popped up in the menu rotation. Puffy, golden potato and onion filled dumplings, thin strips of red bell peppers sauteed until they were soft and sweet and just barely carmelized at the ends and perfectly fried sausage. It was an island of semi-home-cooked-ness in a sea of industrial, mass-prepared food.

I have been trying to replicated this ever since I left college. The timing of it all has always eluded me. Last night, I think I got it down method-wise, and next time I think I can even make it a one-sheet-pan meal to boot!

Start with some thinly sliced bell peppers

Toss with some olive oil and spread in a (roughly) single layer on a baking sheet.

Now, if you want to do everything in the oven, take a lovely pack of sausages

Cut them in halves or quarters and put them on the tray as well. Bake at 350 until the sausages are brown, the peppers are soft and starting to caramelize at the edges.

Now, if I had thought a little more, I would have taken the sausage and peppers off the tray and just tossed on some lightly oiled frozen pierogies. As it was, I did those mostly in a skillet, which was silly. But it did lead to this amusing series of pictures by Dear Husband. 

 He didn't quite hold it still, or activate the digital compensation.

I learned that I apparently stand with my legs crossed, for no obvious reason...

 Why is this picture at a 60 degree tilt? no idea

This could be really adorable if it weren't quite so blurry.

In any event, it was delicious, and very close to what I remember. 

Over all, a great sucess!

Cute Dog, Weird Dog.

Penny is quirky. A lot of her quirks line up pretty well with ours (strict adherence to schedule, love of cuddling and watching tv in the evening) and some of them are just weird.

Especially for a dog.

Seriously, what self-respecting dog sleeps on their back?

Or worse, uses their paws as hands to play with a toy while on their back?

Did not notice when I took the video, but my husband was unintentionally providing background music

What dog does this? I have never seen or heard of this. And she doesn't just do it will nice floppy toys like this beaver/squirrel thing that once squeaked. She also does it with her ropes, her rawhides, and her bouncy Kong snowman thing

Note, right around the two second mark how she drops it, and bats it back into her mouth.

This cannot be considered normal behavior right? Kinda cool, but really? What dog does this?

Some days are just weird

Today has been...odd.

To start out with, my phone perished after an unfortunate swim yesterday morning, and I couldn't get to the mobile store to replace it until the afternoon, so I was temporarily communication-less. I remember a time, not too long ago, when I did not have instantaneous communication with friends and family in my pocket. It's amazing how quickly we become used to things.

There have been some teaching difficulties this semester, which I spent a chunk of the morning working out, or at least starting to work out. Five semesters of teaching and this is the first difficulty of its kind I've faced.

My research has in a sense gone well recently. I have it all in a very simple form. Too bad the simple form makes far less sense than the complicated form. Still trying to figure out what to do with that.

Went to the mobile store to get my new phone, which was no problem from the point of replacing my phone (and getting it a protective cover), but I had made the reasonable-at-the-time choice of wearing my boots. If the temperature is below 60 as it was supposed to be today, they are perfect, since my feet tend to be cold. If, however, the temperature is about 60, as it turned out to be, my feet overheat very quickly, and make me feel very queasy.

 It's a family trait, and why I don't wear socks to bed.

The store was warm, and I was standing in the sun. I ended up cutting off the very nice, helpful associate who was helping me set up my new phone because I knew I would throw up on him if I stayed a frighteningly short time longer. I told him I could finish setting it up myself, got my stuff, and high tailed it out to my car, where I opened the windows, took off my shoes and spent 15 minutes cooling down. I drove home in my stocking feet because I didn't dare put my boots back on.

My husband had a late night at work, so I am all alone in the house with Penny this evening. Which is great. Except she has a huge amount of energy, even after playing outside all afternoon with the three dogs who live on the other side of the fence. And I have no energy. I am currently trying to work up the gumption to do the dishes, because our dishwasher is older than I am and finally retired. And any evening on my own is a little strange, even though I do it on a not infrequent basis. We are a family of routine, and it messes with the routine to not have Dear Husband home around dinner time.

So here I sit, in my comfy chair, hoping tomorrow will be just a little less strange.

Penny vs. Blankets

Changing the bed linens is one of those tasks which is necessary, but is usually boring.

Unless you have a dog like Penny.

Any other time, she seems to understand that blankets are blankets and are there to keep things warm. But when you are changing the sheets, she seems convinced they are now alive and must be fought.

She splays out to control the beast underneath.

She bites it, trying to find its neck

A new layer is  added and she pounces (slightly too fast for my camera phone)

She bites this one, but in a more leisurely fashion.

Then, having killed the beast* she looks at me with the face that says, "I did good, right?"

*While I am ok with her terrier-neck-breaking the $20 target blanket in the first picture, I don't want her to do the same to my beautiful handmade wedding quilt,  so I wait until she is off the bed to smooth it out.

Cold Snap Snuggling

Our part of North Carolina has been caught in the bottom edge of the POLAR VORTEX for several days (we escaped today, but it's supposed to recapture us tomorrow). I'm told by natives that it used to stay below freezing for several days at a time back in the 80s, but it is very much colder than we had yet experienced here. And it is the first time that we are in a house with huge windows, instead of apartments with neighbors who cranked up the heat so much we had to open  windows.

All this to say, our house is  on the cool and drafty side at the moment. I foresee the installation of more insulation in our crawlspace and attic in the near-ish future.

In the meantime, rather than turn up the heat like most people, we have taken to bundling up inside, because we both grew up in houses that were cool in the winter (me because my parents just kept the thermostat low and told us to put on a sweater, he because the area of the world he grew up in gets chilly (damp 50s) in the winter, but the houses are not heated, and are in fact designed with cooling in  mind) so we'd rather bundle than turn up the heat. Also, SO much cheaper.

But while I put on an extra pair of socks, Penny goes straight for finding either a warm body to curl up with, or burying herself in blankets.

A favorite place seems to be the footrest portion of my husband's recliner, using his legs as a kind of warm pillow.

Lacking that, she'll do her best to nest in a blanket, and then look at us until we cover her the rest of the way, having opposable thumbs and all that.

Of course, this seems to be her favorite position at the moment--held like a baby in Dear Husband's arms, wrapped in a blanket.

Dog knows how to stay warm.

Hiking

Today is a federal holiday around here, which means that we both had the day off. The weather was (unseasonably) gorgeous, so we decided to take advantage of it and go hiking.

The original plan was to go to Uwharrie National Forest, which Penny and I had been to before. However, a missed turn meant we ended up closer to Morrow Mountain State Park (mountain is a term used loosely around here. And this comes from a defender of the Appalachians as mountains.) So that is where we went.

The trail we chose was the "Sugarloaf" trail, which my mother informed me after the fact is a famous ski mountain in Vermont. Had I known this, I probably would not have been surprised at what the trail entailed.

It started off fairly normal...

Then it started going downhill.

Literally

Penny Pictures: A Cuteness interlude

I hope to be able to write a nice, wordy post sometime soon, but in the meantime I thought I would post these pictures of Penny from yesterday.

This first series is of Penny trying to understand what I am saying (or looking like she is). I talk to her as if she were  a small human, because there are days when for a good 10 hour stretch she is the only other living creature I interact with directly. I also just talk to things. And myself.

Of course, she has no idea what I am saying for the most part. She recognizes a few words or short phrases as commands or invitations. "Do you want to go for a ride?" has her running for the garage, while "Crate" has her running for the guest room (long story).  But when I am in the process of trying to teach her something new, cuing it with  a particular intonation, she does this.

Mild interest since I am standing in the kitchen, and there is therefore the possibility of food.

Did you say something? Am I supposed to know this?

Christmas Cookies: Gingerbread People

Now that finals are done, and the fall semester has come to a conclusion, it's time to bake Christmas cookies!

Cookies? Do I get to lick the bowl? PLEASE?!

Every year for as long as I can remember, Christmas has involved the mass production of cookies in my family. For one thing, they are delicious tradition! For another, my mother used them as end of the year 'thank you' gifts to the various people and business we interacted with through the year. Church people, the dentist, doctors, car mechanic, if we knew them and liked them, they got a plate of at least 5 different Christmas cookies. I aim to continue the tradition.

New Carpet!

Today began the official house reconstruction, post shower flooding. We had had a carpet rep come before Thanksgiving, and today was the install date.

It is amazingly fluffy, it made me feel like this*. Its twice as thick as any other carpet in the house. It is lush. It is cushiony. The installers were incredibly polite and tidy.

This was Penny's reaction.

Honestly, that's kinda what I wanted to do, but I had too much 'dignity' or something. 

Next up, drywall for my ceiling!

~PhysicsGal

*I am unclear on the legal issues surrounding animated gifs of copyrighted materials, even if they have achieved meme status.

Penny in Boots

Winter is coming...

which means it is getting cold, wet and dark around here. It makes me glad that I won't have to trek across campus much more in the near future, or stand out in the near-freezing rain waiting for the campus shuttle.

There are some lovely things about this. Baking or cooking has the welcome side effect of warming up the kitchen, and a little of the dining room. Casseroles and stews are back on the menu.  I get to pull out the quilts and afghans that languish in closets so much of the year. 

 I get to watch my dog wear boots. 

If you have never stumbled across the videos of dogs wearing boots for the first time, welcome to the internet, and allow me to assure you they are hilarious. 

Penny is small enough, and has enough chihuahua in her, that the vet recommended we get her boots for when it is cold and wet. We are not doing it because we are mean, but because we want to prevent frostbite. The fact that she is unbelievably funny while wearing them is just a happy side effect (for us). 

She is not exactly happy, but she is pretty docile while you put them on. As soon as you set her free, she is determined not to wear them anymore. The first time we put them on her, she wobbled over to a carpeted area and immediately worked them off. Ditto the second time out.

The third time out was even funnier, because she actually kept them on for a little while. She managed about 10 minutes, intermittently walking funny, just standing there  and trying to get them off.

I'm hoping eventually she stops fighting them, so she can enjoy whatever snow we get this year, and keep jogging even when it is freezing. 

Penny, one year later

Wednesday marked one year since we met Penny and took her home with us. We were happy before, but we didn't know how much we were missing until she came into our lives.

Sitting in her chair. Dear Husband only thinks it's his. 

Pictures of Happiness

This week has been a rollercoaster of events and emotions, ranging from frustrated and angry to relaxed and happy. I'm going to focus on the happy things, because the frustrating things aren't going to go away anytime soon, except maybe my house will be quiet today if they can remove the last of the blowers/dehumidifiers that are kicking me out of my kitchen, making my house too loud to enjoy, and messing with the thermostats so some rooms are toasty warm and others are so cold there is condensation on the walls.

Anyway, happy thoughts.

As I mentioned in my last post, Dear Husband got his much belated birthday gift of a comfortable recliner, which he loves and Penny loves (and I love it too, but I have to wait to get my own).

This is the face of doggy comfort.

Autumn has finally arrived!

People who have lived here longer than me tell me that it's been autumn for a while now. A few trees started turning back in September and we haven't hit 90 F in quite a while.

It started to look light autumn (to me) last week. We got down into the 50s at night, and the trees have started to drop leaves in earnest, taunting my did-not-grow-up-with-deciduous-trees husband to the Sisyphean task of raking leaves before the tree is remotely bare, or they at least have all turned.

This is pretty much what our driveway/backyard looked like before and after.

But its not really autumn to me until it starts getting chilly inside. Until I want slippers  and extra blankets and to really snuggle with Dear Husband and Penny for warmth when watching tv in the evenings.

How could anyone *not* want more cuddle time with that face?

And it finally happened. Yesterday morning it was chilly when we woke up, which for us meant the indoor temperature was less than 70 (specifically, 68). Not enough to turn the heat on yet, but enough to make me dig out a pair of socks and wear a sweatshirt. This morning, it dropped to 40 F outside, and inside it hit the magic number--64. I got to turn on the heat! It rolled out of the registers and over my feet.

Autumn has finally arrived, let the snuggling abound!

Jogging, Day 6

Just like I said I would, I went jogging today. After yesterday's life-i-ness, all of us woke up feeling a whole lot brighter this morning. If yesterday was the antithesis of relaxing, today was a pretty decent approximation of the ideal. Slept late (7:30 am), made coffee and oat pancakes while my marvelous husband cleaned the bathrooms. Ate breakfast, and did some overviewing of photonics, during which the love of my life made me more coffee. I ran the last of the errands, which didn't get done yesterday, and got in a solid two hours of studying, which both made me feel more confident, and reminded me why I dislike modern optics. At that point, it seemed like the perfect time for a jog.

Who wants to multiply a bunch of these together and then have to plug in the numbers by hand? No one!

It is warm and cloudy today, which is perfect for me. Jogging was easier today, but also more tiring. I found I was breathing easier, but my legs felt tired almost immediately. Not sure if it was the studying, or because I'm just feeling a little off physically, but I definitely felt that burning sensation almost from the get-go. Penny started off strong, but was looking like she just wanted to lie down in the grass by the end.

I'm still debating if I want to up the level of difficulty next week (run 6, walk 2) or stick with what I'm doing now another week (run 5, walk 3). On the one hand, I want to keep the momentum of improvement going. On the other hand, next week is likely to be stressful already, I don't know that it'll be a good week to try to really change anything. I'll have to think about it. 

On the other hand, if it meant I could have more chocolate next week, it might be completely worth it. Ah, optimization problems, how I hate you.

~PhysicsGal

Why I didn't go jogging today...

Today, while I intended to do some studying, I was mostly going to try to relax. I had a few errands to run as I always do, but I don't find food shopping particularly stressful. And then I was going to go jogging like I should. Yeah, that didn't happen.

The first list of errands today was getting Penny up to date on her vaccines. I thought dogs were like cats--rabies and distemper, done. Nope. Also have to get bordetella and leptospirosis vaccines, at least in this part of the country. Now, I don't mind paying for these things. Vaccines are dirt cheap, especially compared to treatment. But I would love someone to explain to me why they can't make concentrated, single vaccines for these things, instead of individual, large doses. The doses they use would be large injection for an adult human, let alone a small dog.

Long story short, I was expecting one injection, Penny would pout for a few hours, and then be back to her old self. Instead,  four injections and she's been lethargic and sad all day.

This is not her natural state. She didn't even perk up at the word 'walk' or the sound of the refrigerator door opening. Usually you have to walk her up and down a small mountain to get this level of not-moving in her. The only time she perked up was when I took her along for the Petsmart run, because she loves to be in my car. If we leave the car and garage doors open, she'll just go hang out in there. Asking her if she wants to go for a ride elicits the same response as asking if she wants to go for a walk. It didn't hurt that the Petsmart people were handing out some kind of new jerky treat sample packs. 

I took her back to the house before doing the weekly grocery shopping. I go the same time every Friday. Its a bit of a drive to the grocery store where I can buy things like almonds in bulk, so I go between lunch rush and school getting out. The store is usually empty. Not today. Today even the usually deserted underground parking deck was packed. The isles were busy. I had to wait at the bulk bins. It was loud. It was not relaxing. 

On the way back, I stopped at the local liquor store to get some B&B for hot toddies in the evening. Walking back to my car, a beat up old van, blaring hip hop of some kind, driven by two middle aged white guys who had clearly started the weekend early, drove into the parking lot. They wolf whistled (or tried too) and then shouted at me that I looked Amish, they liked my dress. I thanked them (what else can you do?)  and left. For the record, while I do have some clothes that are Amish-esque, I was wearing a sundress from Kohl's that is not remotely Amish. 

To top off my weird, not relaxing errand run, driving home a new commercial popped up, touting Bojangle's 'master biscuit makers' by asking if you've ever heard of a master bagel maker, and declaring that you haven't because it takes no skill to make bread with a hole in it. I couldn't take it. I started yelling at the radio, even though it had moved onto a car commercial. Bagels are not the same as bread. Bagels are boiled, then baked and there is a great deal of skill to making a good one. You can't even get one down here. They don't exist outside of the NY tri-state area. Do not mock bagels if you have never had one. And it takes zero skill to make biscuits from a mix. 

Getting back from all this, I decided to put off jogging for a day. Penny is still just lying there. I don't feel all that chipper, and it is threatening rain. I know it's a bad to break routine, but it just wasn't going to work today. 

If I can understand photonic bandgaps before I go to bed tonight though, I'll still count this day as a win. 

~PhysicsGal

Penny and her daddy

Its been a long, kinda stressful day, so I'm going to do a cute dog post and not something intense and well thought out.

I mentioned in my first post on Penny that is a very cuddly dog. In the morning, she'll cuddle with me while I drink my coffee. In the evening though, she prefers to climb onto my husband's lap, and be held by him. 

She jumps up, and settles in, and looks indignant when I try to take a picture.

And then she poses, and my husband tries to ignore the fact that I've become picture happy.

And about 30 seconds later, she's fallen asleep, and my husband just holds her while we finish watching a movie.

He then carries her like a baby up to bed. The adorable thing is she seems to like it. But only if he does it.

What makes this all the more adorable to me is that my husband is a manly man. Muscled, traditional masculinity. It's one of the things that first attracted me to him--he looked like he might be able to lifts in swing dancing. He likes football, and loud speakers, and meat cooked on a fire. But Penny totally melts him, and he can make her calm down and just go to sleep.

Our little family.

~PhysicsGal

Jogging, Day 4

So week two of my jogging experiment began, despite threatening rain. The plan I had worked out over the weekend was to run 5 houses, walk 3, repeat for the 2 miles. My idea is to keep shifting a house from the walking portion to the running portion until I'm just running, and then increase the length of the run. Weirdly, my legs seemed to ache from not-running on Sunday, so I wasn't sure what was going to happen today.

It was fine. My legs were feeling it by the end, and after 5 houses I was a little winded, but I was ready to go again after walking for 3. And again, it felt good. I don't get it. I've never enjoyed exercise that wasn't long distance walking in my life. Maybe because I'm doing it at my own pace, instead of a pace someone else set? Setting? Penny? Instant reward? No idea, but I'm going to run with it (pun completely intended)

Another plus--Penny was tuckered out  by the end, but not before. After doing our usual post-jog routine of water and frozen blueberries, I went to my study to write this (and then study), and she came up stairs and fell asleep.

She likes to sleep on blanket piles when I have some to spare.

She has a sixth sense for when her human is taking pictures of her. She'll wake up enough to give me a look, and then goes straight back to sleep.

One ear just a little more alert for camera noises.