Weekend Update

Our dinner party was really fun. We had 3 couples over, two of whom we've never socialized with before (outside of work, or outside of college days). That we got invitations to their homes tells me we are on the road to establishing new friendships. We had everyone bring a bottle of red wine, that I covered with a paper label, and labeled A, B, C or D. I gave everyone tasting sheets to write notes about the wines. The wine we submitted, a 2001 Oregon Pinot Noir from King Estate, won first prize, with 6 of the 8 adults voting for it. The apple juice won the kids' votes. :) The kids got turkey dogs and fruit, the adults got lasagna, garlic bread and salad. It lasted from 4:30 to 10:00pm

Earlier in the day, our beloved Weimaraner, Coltrane, bit Grady in his face. (Note, that picture is not of Coltrane biting Grady, but of Coltrane meeting Grady when he first came home from the hospital.) Not hard enough to break any skin, but hard enough to leave a line of swelled, bruised tooth marks along the right side of his face. Grady had him on a leash and tried to ride him like a horse. Coltrane didn't like that, and instead of growling, he lunged and bit Grady. Almost a year ago, Grady covered Coltrane with a blanket, then jumped on him. Grady ended up with a laceration on his left cheek, that is still a little crescent shaped scar. Two strikes, and Coltrane's out. We have to get rid of him.

After stressing and feeling so sad about our alternatives (contacting the breeder to see if he'd take him back, sending him to a Weimaraner rescue service, dropping him off at the pound, or euthanizing him), we got a miracle call. My sister, Katy, called on Sunday night to say she'd love to take him. Wow. What a relief. She lives in Virginia with her boyfriend, Erik, and she owns a chocolate lab named Webber. Coltrane is going to love his new home! It'll be so nice to have Coltrane still connected to our lives, and to be able to visit him every once in a while.

Grady has been very perceptive about the whole thing. He fully supports Coltrane living somewhere else, and expressed perfectly what we all feel: "I still love him, but he can't live in our house anymore."

So, 7.5 years of having wonderful Coltrane snuggle up with us, do tricks for us, and look gorgeous in front of our fireplace will end right after Thanksgiving. Sad, but necessary.

I should give Grady photo credits for the picture of Katy. He's become quite interested in photography. And, just now, he showed me his first drawing of a person. I'm impressed it includes a torso... and an alien head.