learning to fetch.. 

Learning to Swim 

Hello? Testing… testing….. [whsssshhhh] is this thing on?

Ahem. Thank you all for coming such a long distance this evening. And at great expense I might add, thank you for this opportunity. The reason I have asked you all to be here is this: I would like to reintroduce you to somebody back from the beyond… please…. Please everyone…. May we have some order here? Please….quiet down folks. There have been some ugly rumors being passed around, and I would like to quell the misconceptions by saying (in the immortal words of someone else) the rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated.

Actually I'm feeling quite well, thank you! And still in love. And still have my hands full with a new pup. And a backyard full of dirt in anticipation of a new hot tub. And still working long hours in the rain. And yet more rain. And with that weeds. And yet more weeds. So really not that much has changed.
But on request, let me fill in a little more about Soda, our cracker-dog. I think I'll let some pictures tell the story:

circa 3 1/2 months old

circa 4 months