Independence Day 2007

Happy 4th of July, Americans!


I celebrated my 4th the normal way - shopping on the green this morning and then sitting on a blanket on a curb in the rain to watch the parade go by with my sister and her family. It was fun. The rain was just over a sprinkle during the parade, so it wasn't too bad, plus we had umbrellas, so we didn't get soaked. And the parade was fun. Of course, I wish J could have been there with me, but he had to work from 6:00 last night to 6:00 this morning, and then he had to be back in from 7:00 tonight until 3:00 tomorrow morning. So, as you can imagine, he was home sleeping while I was out celebrating the 4th. I hope he gets to go next year.


After the parade we went back to Donna's and had a cookout, but of course we sat inside because of the rain. And I hung out with the family for a little while and then came home. It was a pretty good day. And I'm not going to the fireworks tonight, so my celebrating is officially over for this year.


And then after I got home tonight, the most exciting thing happened! My dog, Willow, has been intrigued with the idea of playing ever since I adopted her from the SPCA, but she didn't seem to know how. We'd try to play with her, and she would just not know how to respond, and she didn't know what in the world she was supposed to do with toys. But J has been working with her, trying to get her to play with some toys that are here for his dogs, and tonight she finally did! It's an Independence Day miracle. (Yes, that was corny.) Here, for your enjoyment, is photographic documentation of the first time Willow has ever played with a toy in the almost two years that I've had her in my life.

This is when she first started picking the toy up and playing with it. She didn't throw it around or anything - she just held it and growled at anyone who came too close to her so that they'd know they couldn't steal it.


And here's the aftermath of her taking the toy into her crate. She tore the leg right off that poor little animal! J and I were very happy to see her finally start to play, and told her she was a good girl. Aww, my adult dog is finally learning how to play with toys! How great is that?