UPDATE: PORTLAND TRIP ORDEAL

We woke this morning at a little after 6am to a phone call. It was Mom, calling to say she accidentally sliced her arm and was headed to the hospital for stitches. A few hours and five stitches later, she called again to say she missed both Portland-bound airplanes leaving McCarran Airport! Apparently, some goofball forced her to park in the distant parking lot and her delay prevented her from boarding by five minutes.

After facing the choice of an overbooked 12pm flight or a slightly later flight with a two hour layover in Sacramento, she's now on Alaska Airlines and will arrive around 2:40pm. We're glad to hear things are back on track and the injury is not too serious.

What some people will do to get out of work...

IN MEMORY OF SANDY DOG

We learned the terrible news last night that Sandy's quality of life was rapidly declining due to cancer and had to be put to sleep. All who knew her are sad at her passing. True to her breed as a yellow lab, she was a very sweet and loving pet. Bless her heart, sometimes a little too loving, particularly when her paws were muddy. She lived 13 years, and remarkably, until cancer had affected her, she showed very few signs of age. Always excitable and frequently hyper, she could always be counted on for a good walk or game of fetch.

Jill and I walked her many times together, particularly when we lived in Medford right after we were married. Every time we walked by a short divider pole along the bike path, we'd slip her leash handle around the pole, halting her while we walked on. Sandy always fell for the joke because she was always pulling us along, keeping the leash taut. And as soon as she was freed, back to pulling us along she went.

We think Nino will also miss her; they were actually buddies. As skittish a cat as he is, Nino would go outside and sit right down next to Sandy, back to back as happy as can be. An odd and surprising, but endearing friendship.

Sandy Dog will be missed.