There's a Texas BBQ around the corner from my apartment and they have a slightly smaller than lifesize cow statue that they put out when they're open. When Lola was a puppy she used to try to nip its heels. We haven't walked by it in a long time (we usually go for walks in the other direction where there's less traffic and it's quieter - more of a suburban neighborhood in the other direction), but I took her by the cow again for the first time in a long time and she still barked at it and tried to nip its heels. Haha, I'd love to see her with real cows (or sheep). Tomorrow the Bean turns the big THREE and will no longer be a puppy, though I doubt she'll act like an adult...
My parents got a new dog (a Parson Russell mix), they adopted him today (so we'll celebrate that as his birthday since we don't know when he was born), but he's about 7. He's black and white, my sister texted me a picture. His name is Satchamo, but I plan to call him Satchmo, and I think they're going to call him Satch. He seems to be well trained (yay!) and since my parents have another dog Sadie and my sister (who lives home) has a dog Abby (both PRTs), he'll be well socialized. I guess Sadie is "angry" there's a new dog and she's missing out on her 10 naps a day, lol. No conflicts, but I think Sadie is used to being the "new" dog and therefore the center of attention. It'll be CRAZY next month when Lola and I go back... granted, it's a nice size house, but 4 people and 4 dogs... I don't think there's enough room on the couch!
No walk today, tomorrow though for sure. We did a long walk yesterday (around 3 miles), and we'll do a long one tomorrow (maybe not quite the same route). Normally, I wouldn't consider 3 miles a long walk, but Lola's front left elbow didn't form 100% correctly. She walks fine on it, but when she's tired you can hear her joint crack (sort of like when you crack your knuckles - same sound). No walk today because it's still been cracking. Usually we only go 1.5-2 miles and every 4th day rest, but it's been cooler so Lola's wanted to go on longer walks. Still, I know that if her joint deteriorates more, it'll be a few thousand dollars for them to go in and repair it. Right now it's not bad enough for them to do it, but it'll happen eventually, I'm sure. I actually found out about it because I was trying to get Lola up to pace to go running with me, and I noticed that after runs her joint was always cracking all the time. So no more running for Lola. Now that we only walk, it doesn't always crack, luckily, but when it does after a night's sleep, I know we can't go for a walk that day. Poor Lola... But then again, she seems happy to laze about the apartment for the day anyway.
I started practicing my Polish today. Just learning some salutations and the verbs być and mieć (to be and to have). Lola thinks it's funny, I think, the way I sound when I speak Polish. Next time I call my Aunt Edith, I'll have to great her in Polish (since I know she speaks it very well).
Lola's birthday is less than a week away! She'll be 3 on September 27! I'm excited. I got her a new collar and name tag (a little more glitzy this time around). It's finally getting cooler out here in LA, so I've been able to walk Lola in the mornings and on longer walks. She's been pretty content to sleep her days away now - I assume she's entering that adult phase of her life. I'll be sure to post a picture of her in her new collar next week. I've let her sniff it and I've fitted it to her, but we're still using the old one.
In the meantime, no job leads... so Lola and I will be moving back in with my parents next month :( Well, at least I'll get to enjoy fall this year for a change and Lola will probably enjoy the much cooler weather and having other dogs to hang out with.
I've also been working on the family tree a bit more, got some stuff about my mom's grandparents and am trying to track down their parents, siblings, nieces and nephews. It's been going alright. I have a few people I want to call and ask some questions of, even if they can't give details, knowing there's someone to look out for there is very useful too! For example, I found Emma Parry's obituary and she died in 1941 and had 6 grandchildren. Well, knowing how many kids and when they were born, 5 of those 6 were my grandmother and her older sister and 3 younger brothers... that meant obviously that Emma's son also had a child before 1941 (just 1, but he might have had more after). So knowing he was probably married, I managed to find his wedding announcement to Genevieve Buckley in 1939. Not sure what their child's name was or how many more they had after 1941, but... Aunt Jean's daughter's godparents are Uncle Joey (her brother - whose last name is not Parry) and a Mrs. Joseph Parry (perhaps the wife of her cousin AKA the 6th grandchild of Emma). Of course, Mrs. Joseph Parry might not even be related at all, who knows. I assume she didn't ask my grandmother (her sister) to be godmother because my grandmother just had a baby a few months earlier? Things to speculate on for sure.
