Bob,
rolled out of bed at 6 this morning and started hauling puppies out to the pen. Got them out; cleaned up the inside pen; make a pot of coffee; got the other dogs out for their morning potty break (including the Rottie girl who's bording with us for 2 weeks). Then it started to thunder.

So, hauled the puppies back inside, drank a cup of coffee, read the front page of the paper, cleaned up the pen, fed the cat, cleaned up the pen, drank another cup of coffee, cleaned up the pen . . . Well, it just goes on.

The puppies are ready to be on their own. Many will have other dogs to play with in their new homes and folks have been coming by to let their existing dogs meet the new puppies. Plus, folks who have met the puppies over the past 8 weeks are coming by to see them for last time before they leave. We must have 12 to 15 visitors every day. Oh, by the way, the magazine is on deadline and I have 5 portrait sessions to get out. Frankly, it will be nice to get things back to the chaos we call "normal".

I really have mixed feeling about them going. They're great puppies and I love them to pieces. But I need to give some attention to my regular guys. They have been under stress for these 8 weeks and some are beginning to show it -- Crash, the Golden, had some vomiting yesterday. So he and I went off to the pet store to buy some puppy food and he got more than his share of love and attention from the other shoppers.

My one last assignment with these guys is to get a group portrait. After we give them their second set of shots today. I'm still trying to figure out what to glue them in. I'll share it once it's done.

Take care,

Jim