Other than taking Wednesday off, this was a productive week. And that’s despite spending Thursday morning researching some stuff for my Mum. I got my Demand Media articles done, watched my quota of movies … unfortunately I didn’t manage to get any work done on the body of Time-Travel on Screen. I’d planned to get a lot of work done on my birthday, but between walking puppies, thinking about my year and doing some other stuff for Mum, I wound up not doing it.
That said, I have now seen (or researched and rejected) 311 movies for my time-travel book. It looks like there are six that I’m not going to be able to watch for various reasons, and there are still 253 to watch. Trust me, it’s doable.
The birthday was enjoyable. Good weather for walking dogs, a lot of lying around, dinner out with TYG. I’m used to quiet birthdays; heck, I’m used to spending them alone so sharing them with TYG is quite wonderful. And my big birthday gift, going to a local production of Gilbert & Sullivan, is still some days off. All that said, I might try something a little more social or active or even (gasp!) without dogs around next year.
Speaking of which, having them out of the pen most of the day is working well. There are multiple tussles for dominance (at least I assume that’s what they are) which I let run on until they either tire out or Plushie goes and puts me between him and Trixie. Not that he can’t hold his own, but he’s older and a lot less eager to rumble than she is.
But then some of the time, they look like the photo to the right. 
And other times they lie asleep on either side of me and the puppy sandwich thing is just adorable.
They also eat less, which is probably good, as I don’t have to throw Plushie a kong every so often to stop him barking his frustration.
It does make getting out the door trickier as Plush is inclined to bolt. And it’s difficult to get him back in the pen once he’s out on the couch.
Training-wise, it’s a mixed bag. When I practice commands with Trixie, she’s good. When I really need her to obey, she does (I guess she can tell it’s serious). In between, she largely ignores me (I haven’t done much work with Plush).
