I hate my dog

Okay, not really, but after last night she's lucky to be alive with all four legs still in tact. So here's the story. Lyra is quite fixated with Monkey right now. Clearly it's because Monkey actually runs away from her. Sammy puts up a fight (and a good one at that) so Lyra gets bored with him. Monkey likes to climb up on the landing above my kitchen and hang out. Lyra spends a LOT of time staring up at him, waiting anxiously to come down.

Last night, Lyra got courageous...or just fed up with waiting. She actually tried to jump up on my kitchen counter to get at Monkey. Nothing about this manuver was graceful. Lyra's not a small dog. She's about 45-50 pounds and she's ALL legs. (and ears). In the process of her jumping up on the counter and me yelling obscenities, she knocked my crock pot over onto the kitchen floor. It shattered. The ceramic bowl on the inside of the crock pot is in a million pieces.

This is especially frustrating to me because I have recently gotten into cooking. *gasp* I know. Family, you know what a big deal this is. I have actually been cooking! And I don't mean my previous definition of cooking. (for those of you who don't know, my previous definition of cooking involved anytime I have to heat something up or do a lot of movement). I mean like actual real dishes from actual real cookbooks. So the fact that now my crock pot is out of commission is a huge deal. HUGE.

So suffice it to say Lyra needs to thank her lucky stars that she doesn't have an abusive owner because a less patient person might have done something really mean. Not that I was nice. If Lyra understood English...or language at all...she would probably be quite offended by my choice words. Now I just have to add crock pot to my list of things to buy. So annoying.

(two of) The Boys

This will give you an idea of the size of Lyra's ears, if you haven't gotten the perspective already. They're quite incredible, if I do say so myself!!

Worst.

I try to keep an open mind in my job. I hear a lot of things, see a lot of things that at face value could be taken the wrong way and misunderstood. But every once in a while something happens that throws me through such a loop I can't help but be disgusted.

Case in point. I was helping the pages clean up the lobby last night. There were a lot of middle schoolers working on a school project. There were bits of stuff everywhere. Not a big deal at all. However, one of the little bits I picked up...well...I shudder to even think now. I picked up part of a tooth. Oh. My. God. Once I figured out what it was, I immediately threw it across the room and promptly freaked out. I still feel a little nauseous thinking about it. GROSS!!

A Sad Day

We have lost one of the best children's authors of all time, as far as I'm concerned. At 88 years old, Madeleine L'Engle passed away today of natural causes. A very sad day indeed.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/08/books/07cnd-lengle.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

The dingo ate mah baby!

I have confirmed Lyra's breed. When I got her I just assumed she was a mix of German Shepherd and Yellow Lab. But it never really fit quite right. After I jokingly told a co-worker that my new dog looks like a dingo, she later brought me information about a breed I had never heard of: Carolina Dog. I contacted someone at the Carolina Dog Association with pictures of Lyra and a description of her temperment and she wrote back saying that yes, in fact, Lyra is a full-blown Carolina Dog.

Carolina Dog is also known as American Dingo, Dixie Dingo, Southern Dingo, Native American Dog, the Indian's Dog, the Southern Aboriginal Dog and Ol' Yaller. It comes from southeastern U.S. and has been linked to the Australian Dingo. They also have some physical similarities to sighthounds (greyhounds, whippets, etc.) which is exactly what Lyra looks like.

It's really neat to learn more about the breed, it has a pretty interesting history and I couldn't have asked for a better dog, she's perfect!! Sure she makes me messes and loves to play "let's see if I can fit Sammy's head in my mouth" but all in all she's the best dog I've ever met. Of course I will always have a special place in my heart for Levi but I never had a connection with him that I immediately had with Lyra.

Here's some more info if you're so inclined (I certainly am):

http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/caralinadog.htm

http://www.carolinadogs.com/