Summertime

Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love. 1 Corinthians 13:13 (The Message)

I am the queen of multitasking. I can read e-mails, cook dinner, fold laundry, plan a craft project and carry on a conversation all at the same time. But, I cannot multitask when there is a puppy in the house. Yes, Summer has finally arrived. She flew in on Thursday without any difficulties. I was a nervous wreck about it, wishing I had driven to Michigan for her. The nineteen hours each way didn’t seem like much when I considered the stress I must have been putting the poor baby through. I took towels and wipes to the airport expecting to receive a wet and shivering puppy. Instead, she was calm and dry, alert, but reserved. I have never had a puppy so mellow. Husband teased that she might have been drugged, but I know her breeder would never have done something like that and time has proven that is just her personality. She goes into her crate without a whimper. Sleeps soundly all night long and waits patiently until we come to let her out in the morning. She is active, but not hyper. She loves to explore in the yard and will get into things as puppies will do, but she does not race around like a maniac snapping and jumping up. On Saturday, I took her to one of our worksites and a group of children ran up to her. She saw them coming, sat down, waited their arrival and stayed sitting down allowing them to pet her calmly. She is the first “no drama” dog I think we have ever had. She is also the first with a tail which will take getting used to! She is easy to train, already getting the hang of housebreaking and retrieving. We are already in love with her, and she is going to make a very nice dog for us. The main problem I have is that I can’t keep my hands off her. I want to be loving her every moment I am with her. The laundry is not getting folded, the floors are covered in sand, craft projects are on hold and I am behind in my blogging because I’ve got both eyes and both hands on her all the time. Today, I lay on the couch all afternoon watching her sleep on my chest. Youngest son says I am going to spoil her, but I can’t help myself. She will only be little for a while. When she weighs 65 pounds, I won’t be able to cuddle her any more! It reminded me of a sign that someone gave me at a baby shower before oldest son was born. It was a poem and the ending went, “Settle down cobwebs, dust go to sleep. I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep.” I wish I had been better able to take that advice twenty-five years ago when my kids were young. Housework seemed more important then. Now, who cares about cobwebs, there’s a puppy to love!  And love, no matter who you’re loving is not something you can multitask.