A Note From the Supreme Court......

Hey Y'all!

Well Paddington (or Pitty Pat, which is his current nickname for the week) and I have been VERY busy learning to sit! We had our first obedience lesson on Monday, and ever since then 3 to 4 times a day we have been practicing, practicing! Pitty Pat is a very smart student (if I say so) and is doing very well. We are still having issues with the potty training.... and I am a little worried since I go back to work next week. Our main issue is that he is being silly and wants to eat his poopy. I have some remedies that I am going to try and see if this helps. It is REALLY gross, but according to several experts, puppies do this. UGHHH!

Pitty Pat had a birthday this week! On Tuesday he turned 5 months old! So far, I haven't noticed a difference, except that now he will nap a little bit more than usual. I don't know if this is because he has been neutered, but he has calmed down a bit! He still has his wild and crazy moments, but overall he is growing up. He is cutting 5 teeth right now, so he is chewing like a silly boy. :) He is also growing! He is gaining weight, but he is also growing longer! His face has changed too! His hair is still thin, and hopefully in a month or too his coat will come back in.

Anyhoo... you may have heard on the news today that they confirmed Sonia Sotomayor, who is the first Hispanic woman to be appointed to the Supreme Court. While this is exciting news, it brought back a memory to me that I just had to share!

When I was in high school, we had just moved to Columbia, SC. I was a freshmen in a class of just over 1,000. Gulp. My freshmen year I had an English teacher who was wonderful. Although I had to hike way across the parking lot out to her portable every morning...she was always beaming and ready to see us! Her name was Mrs. Hefner. (She is still Mrs. Hefner. Her husband is now superintendent of Richland School District 2!) She was so very kind to me. I think she saw something in me that other teachers hadn't noticed. Maybe she noticed how much I LOVED to read. She also loved the way I wrote. One of our first assignments was to write a letter to someone famous or someone that we admired. Of course, most of my classmates wrote to rock stars and football heroes. Andre Agassi was a big back then! The writer in me was curious to write to someone who had accomplished something extraordinary. Since that really limited me, and at the time, we had NO INTERNET, I had to use an encyclopedia. I settled on writing to Sandra Day O'Connor. For those of you who don't know your American History, Sandra Day O'Connor was the FIRST WOMAN appointed to the Supreme Court. Ronald Regan appointed her in 1981. In my letter I indicated to her that I was curious about how she came to be a lawyer and then a judge. I asked her what advice she had for me as I was just beginning to think about my career path. My thoughts were writer, teacher, maybe lawyer. I was also curious as to what her days were like and if her family supported her during her rise to the top court in the nation. I finished my letter, shared it with my teacher, we put a stamp on it, and mailed it. I didn't expect a response. About a month went by and several of my classmates received autographed postcards from their folks, but no true response.

One day I walked into class and I had a fancy envelope sitting on my desk with the return address OF THE SUPREME COURT! Mrs. Hefner was BEAMING!

Y'ALL SANDRA DAY O'CONNOR WROTE ME BACK!!!!!!!!!

I rushed over to Mrs. Hefner and we held our breath as I carefully opened the envelope. I wanted to treasure this, even if it was your standard reply form letter. I mean it had been sent from the Supreme Court and I wasn't being subpoenaed! Y'all. This. So. Wasn't. A. Form. Letter.

Mrs. O'Connor said she was delighted to hear from a student and she said she was honored that I had chosen her to write to. She explained to me that she had to study very hard and had wonderful teachers to support her, especially in law school. She encouraged me to do what my heart told me to and that I would always be happy if I did something that I loved. She said that she loved being on the Supreme Court and that she was challenged and learned something new everyday. She ended the letter by thanking me and she wished me well in my future. She signed the letter "Sandra Day O'Connor." She didn't use her title, just her name.

To this day, I always think of her kindness in replying to me and taking the time to share her thoughts on how she was successful. Needless to say, I got an A+ on my project. I still have the letter today. It is a cherished memento.

So today's thought is, always take a moment to help someone out. You never know how much you may end up influencing their life later on. Mrs. Hefner and Sandra Day O'Connor taught me that!

:) JKP

It's Raining, It's Pouring, Paddington is Snoring!

Hey Y'all,

Well, I am savoring my last few weeks of summer vacay. Really, I only have about 3 weeks off this year. I know, I know, many of you don't get that many all year. I have spent my time off hanging out with Mr. P. He had his "surgery" on Monday and has done really well. He was groggy on Monday when I brought him home, but that quickly changed. He doesn't seem to be in pain, just itchy where they had to shave his hair. He has a little razor burn. Yesterday he took off like a jack rabbit around the back yard, and today he ran upstairs. So I think he is recouping well! Right now it is pouring and he is taking a little snooze. He has been doing that alot more lately. When he first came home, he was so hyper that he didn't sleep at all! Now, he will play really hard, and then take a nap. We took a walk right before this thunderstorm, and I just fed him dinner. So I guess he is tuckered. Oops, I spoke too soon. He's got his eyes on me now!

Tomorrow we get to meet with our obedience school trainer. Sunny Dogs Training here in Myrtle Beach is going to come to our house and train both of us! Kristen sounds super nice and believes in positive reinforcement is the way to go with training. I couldn't agree more! She is coming for a consult visit tomorrow and then we are going to set up our training schedule. Paddington has a few manners that he needs to learn. He is so smart, I feel like if we went to a group training that he would learn some bad stuff from other doggies! Or maybe, teach them a few things! We need to work on sitting, dropping, coming when called and when to go to our space when we are told. I also want Kristen to help me fine tune Paddington's schedule since I am heading back to school on August 12th!

I went out and ran a few errands today, AND EVERYTHING IS BACK TO SCHOOL!! I am so not ready to face that reality yet! So, I am going to stick my head in the sand for a little while longer. I am going to hang out with Mr. P, watch some movies, read and go to the beach! Of course, let's not forget the knitting!

:) JKP

Baby Boy is GROWING! WOOF! GRRRRR!

Hey Y'all!!

I now know how all of my friends that have been new mommies feel. You really have NO time! I spend most of my days playing with the munchkin and watching all of the new stuff that he has learned! This week Paddington learned how to incite ALL of the dogs in the neighborhood just by barking. Yup. Not fun at 6:30 in the morning! Paddington has also learned that if he drops his tennis ball at your feet, then you will throw it for him! Paddington has also figured out that if he touches you with his toys, then you will play tug with him. He turned 19 weeks old yesterday. His big party will be on August 4th... he will be 5 months old! Just this morning he figured out that if he goes and sits by the sliding glass door that I will let him out. Smart boy!
Here's some recent pics....

He mainly looks like the picture above at all times. Tennis ball in mouth. He likes to lay on his back and squeak the ball too!
Tomorrow he goes in for the big "snip, snip." My vet likes to do it right before they turn 5 months old so that the don't actually activate their hormones. I'm all for that! I hope that he will be ok!
This past week I enjoyed not having to work at all! Although, I was sick for most of the week, it was nice not to have to teach any summer school or have any meetings! Next week I am working for a few days for the Coastal Area Writing Project. After that I am off until August 12th. I can't believe I go back to work so soon! Paddy may struggle with that, he has gotten used to having me home!
Well, I am off to the beach for a little bit to do some reading. The beach has been a dangerous place this week with all of the rip currents. We have had several drownings. I don't plan on staying long, just to have some quiet time to read.
Also, I do have some stuff on the needles believe it or not! I am finishing up a sock and working on some baby items for a friend who is having twins this week. I'll post pics tomorrow. I am sure I will be a nervous wreck until I know that Paddington Bear has done ok in surgery!
Toodles!
:) JKP

Paddington Bear Goes to the Beach!

Hey Y'all!

I am still here, just busy with finally having some time off! Summer school ended last Thursday, so I have been taking it easy since! I took Paddington to the beach today... enjoy our pics!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Our Big Project

Hi Y'all!

To attend this here fancy retreat/conference in Tahoe, my Coastal Area Writing Project partner Bill and I had to write a proposal of what we would create and present while we were out here. Well, we finished our project. Here's a glimpse....we created a social NING to keep all of our writing project folks together as a community. We also made videos explaining how to do everything on our NING. We have been very busy folks! Check out some of our hard work below...


To see our videos, (beware, the sound is WONKY I am going to re-do the sound when I get home. I left my fancy Britney Spears headset with microphone at home!) To see our videos, visit our website dedicated to the NING...
CAWP CONNECT

Enjoy!!! Toodles!!!
JKP

Looking Forward to Returning to the Land Where Sweet Tea Flows Freely...

Hey Y'all!

I have had a great time in Tahoe! I return to SC tomorrow... but I thought I would leave you with the photo montage that one of the early risers here at our Granlibakken Lodge took during one of our early mornings. Enjoy!

Hanging Out in Cali......

Hey Y'all!

Well, I am still in Cali! Here is a pic of my partner Bill and I working yesterday....we started our big project! Last night a few of us were about to monkey so we took a hike down to Tahoe City and walked around. We also walked around the lake a bit. It was so nice. The weather was cool, no humidity and the walk was great! I bet we walked about 4 miles! I slept great last night. Here's some more pics of Tahoe....

It so funny...it's noon at home and 9 here... we just finished breakfast and are now off to work!

Toodles!

:) JKP