Maggie's Newsletter
April
15th, update
The
Spring is back in my step!
Hi,
Readers. I’m back with another update/progress report,
and it’s more positive than ever. But before I get to
that, I want to point out that Karen, my webmistress,
has been archiving my newsletter updates since the
fire. I’ve included lots of photos, and I want to be
able to go back and follow along from the devastation at
the very beginning of this journey, to the full recovery
and then some. And so we’re keeping all these posts up,
and you’ll be able to go right back to the beginning if
you’ve missed any. They’re listed in the right hand
column.
So, on
to the news, all of it good. Last update, I posted that
I was thinking about getting an English Mastiff puppy.
I had made an appointment to go and see a newborn litter
about an hour from home, in the Unadilla area, and I had
looked up facts and pics of the breed and learned as
much as I could about them. I posted some of those pics.
English Mastiffs are a “giant” breed, and the average
adult male weighs about 200 pounds. I was still missing
my precious pets a whole lot, and I was worried about
how Glory (the cat) would react to a new pup. I wasn’t
sure I was ready, but these pups were newborns, and it
would be at least 8 weeks before I could take one home.
By then, I thought, I might be ready.
So off
we went to see them. And there we met a 10 week old
male from another litter, who had been unclaimed. I
looked at the newborns (well, they were a week old by
then) but they were little more than fetuses. Oh, but
this bigger guy—what a fellow he was! He came out of
his pen and loved and played and just stole my heart.
And I said, “but I can’t take a new puppy for an hour’s
drive in a rental car!” And then of course, I wrote a
check and drove the new puppy home in the rental car,
Red, with my pup and my patient, amazing
partner-in-crime, who was vomited on several times on
the way.
On the
way home we tried various names, but when “Dozer” was
spoken, the little guy looked up, perked his ears and
responded eagerly. So that’s his name. Dozer. Short
for Buldozer, but also, (and officially) Dozer the
Dozarian. (And no one under the age of
30—aforementioned, puked-upon, partner-in-crime
included--seems to get the reference, but it’s after
Gozer the Gozarian, demon-god from Ghostbusters, and it
is cuter than hell. Really. It is. Trust me on
this.) =)
It
occurred to me that I once had a cat named Vigo the
Carpathian (demon-god from Ghostbusters 2) and that my
current kitty, Glory, is named for Glorificus, the demon
goddess from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I must have a
demon-deity thing going on. But I digress.
Dozer
is the best dog in the universe. He’s so smart. He’s
12 weeks old. At his vet visit, at 11 weeks, he weighed
26.6 pounds. He has already learned “Sit” and he’s
being very very good about house-training. Of course
most of that is because I’m not really training him, I’m
training me. I’m reading all the puppy books, and
learned how to teach him things. I’ve had a lot of
dogs, but I never really trained one before. Not so
this time. This time I really need to do it well,
because a 120 lb (by summer’s end, I swear) woman alone
should not be attempting to control a 200 pound mastiff
by brute force. Never happen. He’d be running down the
road with a leash dangling behind, with my arm attached
to the other end of the leash, while I stood a few
hundred yards behind bleeding from the empty socket of
my shoulder. So the main things we’re working on,
besides socializing him with lots of other dogs and
people, are coming when we’re called, releasing things
we’re told to release, sitting, not jumping up, and of
course house training. And it’s going really really
well. I’m actually surprised at how easily and quickly
he learns new things. He’s a good dog, and I’m very
proud of how well he behaves when I take him around
other people.
And
since he’s come home with me, I think I’m glowing like a
new mom. =)
He sure
has helped heal my broken heart, I’ll tell you that!
Glory
was, at first, furious, and refused to come into the
“apartment” section of the house (one room and a bath)
and instead, stayed in the gutted parts. But Friday she
ventured in, scratched at the door and I let her in.
She sat up on the back of the couch. Dozer was on the
bottom. He jumped up at her, and she growled. He
backed off, but then jumped up again, and she flattened
her ears and growled louder. She didn’t back up or run
away, just sat there, calmly, telling him what was
what. The third time he jumped at her, she batted his
nose, softly, with her claws completely withdrawn.
Three swats, no claws, not a scratch on him, and then he
sat down and respectfully watched her for a few minutes,
then curled up and went to sleep. Glory closed her eyes
in a slow, satisfied manner and began to purr. “Yes,
I’ve educated yet another canine. He didn’t seem to be
going away, so I had no choice.”
She
adored Wrinkles, and even became friendly with Sally,
though Sally came to us as a fully grown great Dane.
This pup is child’s play for her. And again, I’m very
glad to let her teach him to respect her now, while he’s
little and easily intimidated. Because he’s going to
need to love her dearly when he grows up, and know how
to treat felines, or we’ll be in trouble. I got some
pics of the two of them getting along, but when I was
uploading the ones you see here, Dozer was lying on my
feet, silently chewing the camera’s USB cable in half.
My fault, I let it dangle within his reach. I have
another coming and will have more pics soon! (Update: I
got the new cable, so I’ll send the pics to my
web-goddess with this post!)
Okay,
enough of the doting mom stuff. I’m happy as hell, and
that says it all.
And on
Saturday, I got my building permit, so work on the
reconstruction of Serenity to above and beyond her
former glory will begin this week, probably on Thursday,
4/17. I’m ecstatic about that!
 Okay,
on to book news. You already know about the RITA
nomination for DEMON’S KISS. But what you may not have
on the tip top of your mind is the the sequel,
LOVER’S
BITE goes on a sale in a matter of days! April 29th,
officially! So please be watching for it and buy a
copy. Buy two copies. Mamma needs a new . . .
everything. =)
 Oh, and
spring is really and truly arriving here at last. I’ve
been out running and I see flowers coming up
everywhere. I’m just so blissed out on sunshine.
And
writing away, and writing away and writing away on the
new book, BLOODLINE. This one’s down the road for you,
it’s only current to me because now is when I’m writing
it. For you guys, there’s still one more after
LOVER’S
BITE before you’ll see this one. (ANGEL’S PAIN
in
October.) But I’m loving this story, and all the things
going into it, and the characters and the brilliant
notions the muse seems to be sending down through her
version of a beer-funnel. =)
Life is
great. It really is.
And I
have a suggestion for anyone feeling like life isn’t so
great right now. I’ve been developing this exercise for
a couple of weeks and it’s working incredibly well. Sit
down, and describe the kind of woman you wish you could
be. I wish I could be……blank. And fill in the blanks.
More active. More healthy. More physically fit. More
careful about what I eat. More outgoing. More
friendly. More productive. More ambitious. Less
depressed. Less sedentary. Less solitary. Less
pessimistic. The world’s best dog trainer. The world’s
best money manager. A more careful driver.
Whatever it is, write it down. And then see yourself
that way. And start thinking of yourself that way. And
then, when you feel ready, just BE that woman. BE your
own vision.
BE YOUR
OWN VISION.
Print
it up and hang it on your wall. It could help to make a
poster, and fill it with snipped photos of things that
represent to you that person you wish you were. Call it
a vision board. You’ll be surprised how well it works.
Sending
love to one and all!
Maggie
Maggie’s Feel-Good Websites:
www.hayhouseradio.com
www.abraham-hicks.com
www.effortlesshealing.com
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