Jackson:1, Nemesquirrel: 0

Nemesquirrel, the taunting little bastard that spent the spring throwing peanut shells at Jackson from just beyond his reach on the fence, bit it last night. I'm not sure how it happened, but the little rigormorodent was feet up near the door to my garage this morning. Don't worry, he still had his head (Katie and Jason, I'm looking at you). In fact, he had everything except a little scrap of tail that I later found on the pathway from the house. Interestingly, the very dog that is being rigorously trained out of dragging me down the street and launching at anything that moves, didn't eat dead nemesquirrel (although I believe he was responsible for the tail removal), but instead left him to sit near the door. Hopefully it wasn't meant to be some gift for me because I promptly scooped him up with a cardboard box and trashed him (and am now, suddenly, feeling very guilty about doing that in front of Jack).

Anyway, since there were no evident injuries, I have to assume that the squirrel was scared to death, or possibly fell from his taunting perch and died.

blech.

Buy this skirt

Okay, I'm not one for advertising, especially a place that while I love the clothes I try to stay away from because I'm trying to buy better quality stuff. HOWEVER, in prep for my trip to Mexico (YAY!) I stumbled in yesterday after work to purchase a swimsuit (not something I'll wear often, so I wanted it cheap). I also wanted to grab some cheap swimsuit coverup/general beach wear since I don't have that kind of stuff readily available due to living in a landlocked state. In that process I found the skirt I'll be wearingall summer for $14.50. I am, however, shocked to see that they don't have it on their website, so I'll have to describe it -- it's a cotton, knee length, foldover, stretchy, a-line skirt. It's perfect for summer - flipflops or sneakers, tank top or button down (untucked). Seriously - go buy one - or if you can't call me, I'll go get one for you.

Anxious

Okay, it's been over a month since my last blogession. Things got a little crazy there in April - I knew it would be busy with the Avon Walk in Washington at the end of the month, but then work threw me a curveball (lots of work, but it was interesting) that had me at the office early and late, falling behind on all kinds of things, including this blog, and, as he noticed, Jack's relatively lengthy morning and evening walks. This all culminated in a good work outcome, an amazing DC Walk (no humidity and cool in the shade?!) , a great time with my friends in DC, and Jack developing separation anxiety. That's right - my hundred pound dog has a panic attack whenever I walk out of the house. The complete co-dependent in me loves this, which is probably how I let it get this far, but like all co-dependent relationships, left alone to fester they turn ugly. Although in Jack's case it's more loud than ugly, since he's too damn cute for ugly.

The responsible pet owner in me, however, realizes that it's not just the property and sleep damage he's causing that's problematic, but the fact that he's having a panic attack every day - that can't be fun. Imagine: you are left alone for a whole day in a backyard and you don't know where the pack went or when they plan to return. What if someone tries to get into the den? What if squirrels invade? What if the mailman comes? WHAT IF IT THUNDERS!?!?!

SO! The new regime is in effect. After much reading up on the interwebs (that bastion of pet care truths) I am sticking to a strict schedule, leaving without fanfare, and returning home and being what I would consider cold to him for the first ten minutes. All of this is supposed to help him realize that it's no big deal that the only other dog in the den is leaving him to his own devices for 8-12 hours in the back yard. Now that I think about it, it's probably not him he's panicking for at all. He probably thinking, "But you're so slow and awkward on those two paws you walk on, how can you even think about going out without me, stupid human?! Get back here! NOW! I SAID NOW! Idiot."

No matter what he's thinking, I hope the new plan works!