Whew. I finally get a chance to tell you what I want you to know about me. Geez, after 10 years dontcha think Mom would stop talking about my adoption? I’m still trying to teach her to live in the moment. So, the thing I most want you to know: I love to swim. We get to go in the pool every day unless it’s storming, during the months when the pool is warm enough for us. We wish Dad would keep the pool heated all winter, but for some reason he won’t. Anyway, every day at 3:00 P.M. I give a special bark/cry to remind Mom that I’m ready to go in the pool.  Usually she makes us wait awhile, but at least I get her thinking about it. I love retrieving the special water balls she throws in for me and Quincy. Quincy is soooo unaware. No matter where Mom throws his ball, he leaps into the pool from the same spot. Not me. I eyeball where the closest point is from the side of the pool to the ball, go to that spot, and leap in. Usually I come up with the ball in my mouth. Mom always throws two different color balls in (yes we can see color) and I, being the older, decide which one I want. Sometimes I like to yank Quincy’s chain, though. What I do is claim a color for myself, wait for a few tosses, then abandon my ball and yank Quincy’s out of his mouth while he’s swimming. He, of course, gives it to me and goes and gets mine. If I really feel like razzing him, once he has mine I let go of his and yank mine out of his mouth. What fun! Gotta remind him of whose boss, ya know.

I thought Zack would never get finished with the computer, so I could tell you about me. Like Zack, I love to swim and retrieve the water balls Mom throws in for us. When I see her getting our swimming gear together (towels, balls – no swim suits thank you), I get so excited I start to bark and then Zack chimes in. Usually Mom stands like a statue until we get quiet. What a waste of time. Anyway, Zack has his style and I have mine. I think he’s kind of lazy, but maybe it’s just that he’s getting old (gotta say it like it is Zack, at 10 you’re no spring chicken). But he has lots of energy for an old guy. Anyway, he jumps in after his ball at the closest point from the edge of the pool, I guess to conserve energy. Not me, though. I found this one spot that is my launching pad. Our pool is lagoon shaped, so there isn’t always a lot of room to run towards the side – vegetation gets in the way. Anyway there is this one space with about six feet of pavers where I can run towards the pool, gathering speed as I go. Then I launch myself in the air – I always try to fly as far as possible. Dad says it is usually 10 feet I’m airborne; he thinks my record is about 12 feet. Man, what a feeling – I love it.

The other thing I love is my stuffed ducks. I have three identical ducks. (Don’t ask.) During the day I carry one whenever I go to a different room. At night I bring all three to bed. They mean so much to me. When I go to sleep, I suckle them – makes me think of my furry mom. When I’m “in the mood” I pile one on top of another one, to get the optimal height, and then I go for it.  (Too much information?) Zack has a stuffed monkey he likes to suckle, but as for the other part, he is clueless as to what I am doing. Another age thing perhaps.