Both Noni and Lodi were adopted within a few days of going to the adoption floor. I was there for Lodi's adoption and it was nice to tell her adoptive mom everything that she had been through. We have little black Sidney still and she has a ways to go. She climbed onto the bed to visit me for the first time today which was a very big step. If we caught her on the bed, sometimes she'd stay and sometimes she wouldn't. Most of the night she stays in a corner of the closet. We're hoping she'll move to the bed soon. She has a tendency to slip away and hide whenever she's given access to the rest of the house and, because the door to the basement was accidentally opened, she is now hiding somewhere down there. Food always brings her back, though!

Working in an animal shelter there's always a small risk that I'll bring something home on my clothes or shoes from work that will spread to the pets. I've come home covered in poop, blood, and vomit. I've been accidentally exposed to scabies while bathing puppies (which made me itchy--at least in my mind--the risk to me was pretty small) and a few other parasites. I try really hard to change right away when I get home and minimuze exposure. Saturday might have been the worst so far. I was sneezed, drooled and coughed on by at least eight different dogs with a very liquid form of kennel cough. It was in my hair, on my jeans, and all over my arms and body. I went through six different lab coats that day trying to stay ahead of the germs. When I got home, I had Alan meet me at the door with a robe and scrambled down to the laundry to de-germ while he held the dog back. After a long, hot shower, I felt much less like a walking commercial for Musinex and could actually greet the dog. A good glass of draft cider and good company makes even the respiratory infection gremlins disappear.