About December 20th I felt I was coming down with something. Started as a sore throat and progressed to a lot of discharge and a bad cough.

Plans for Christmas Eve at the Stinson’s and Christmas Day at Joanie & Dennis Franz’s house were cancelled. I even cancelled my scheduled work day today at the Emergency Squad.

Next on my schedule, Monday, is a New Year’s Eve party. On Tuesday I have two New Year’s Day brunches. Wednesday is my next Squad day and hair appointment.

I just hope this goes away but I’ve heard that three weeks is common with this bug.

I’m trying hard to stay involved and I want to socialize more. It would be easy to get into a funk and I won’t let that happen.

On Saturday, the 15th, I went to the Emergency Squad Banquet. The next day, I went to dinner (Sunday evening) with the Coopers and the Brooks, two super nice couples John and I enjoyed. They’ve continued to include me in activities but they also encourage me to do things on my own.

On Monday, the 17th, the Michigan Club had a potluck. My “date” was Evelyn, a widow friend I’ve known for years.

Last night (the 18th) I went solo to Karaoke night at the South Club. At first I sat where my daughter (Kelly) and I had met new folks on November 6th when she was visiting. I felt I had “connected” with one of the widowed ladies, but last night, she was preoccupied with others and I didn’t feel welcome. I’m realizing that just because I “need” friends, most single ladies already have their circles of friends and they aren’t always anxious to have another lady crowd into their group.

I did find one lady who had reached out to me (Brenda). She is a 2-year widow. She invited me to sit with her and others at a dance, and last night was very willing to have me join her table. I guess I just have to learn to wait for friendships. I can’t be too eager.

It’s all so new!

And speaking of new, Sophie (my new dog) has been a challenge. We have highs and lows. Sometimes she’s literally a little “shit” like this morning when she made a mess of her “bedroom.” She has puppy pads to help with house breaking but she’d walked through the stuff and it was awful!!! After I’d cleaned her and the room up, she crawled up in my lap and we had a cuddle session that felt great.

There are times when she runs non-stop for 15-20 minutes. I let her run but there are limits as to what I’ll let her do. She can’t pull on the floor length drapes. She can’t piddle on rugs. I’m trying to get her to understand that life is filled with “nos.”

Some days she’s totally affectionate. Other times she chews my fingers and it hurts. I’m learning that she’s doing what she’d do with other puppies. She just doesn’t realize that she can only “bite” down a little before it hurts. According to an article I read, I need to respond like her siblings would and let out a loud yelp. It has been helping when I respond loudly. I also bought a PetGentle device which makes an ultrasonic sound when you press the button. It’s supposed to be a way to let her know when she’s done wrong. She’s a baby. She has a lot to learn. So do I!!!

Socially I think I’ll do better when I can get out and about. It’s been cool and today rainy. No pool days for a couple weeks. In fact today, I was supposed to go to a 3:00 meeting but it was pouring and I wasn’t about to go out in it. (In fact it’s still raining hard.)

Sophie’s improving her disposition and bad habits.

She’ll stay in her puppy playpen. She doesn’t like it if I’m in view, but she eventually sleeps.

She’s also done pretty good overnight. She isn’t nearly as noisy. She doesn’t like it, but she’s adjusting.

She’s getting better about stopping what she’s doing if I yell, “SOPHIE!!!” She may just be starting to squat, but she’ll stop what she’s doing and look at me. It is a great improvement.

She’s eating beautifully. She likes canned food better than the dry stuff. Yesterday I bought four tins of puppy food and she ate one today (half this morning and half at dinner time).

She’s discovered a few new bad habits: She likes to rip newspapers apart and carry the pieces around. My soxs are hers when I don’t have them on. It’s fun to watch her run in circles carrying one or two. And when I do have them on, she likes to bite them. She also likes to nibble my fingers. Her little teeth are sharp.

She’s doing will with company.

Today Paul Hunt was here for a couple hours. She was in her playpen and she didn’t bother us at all.

Anyone who knew me in 2011 or before knows John and I had a cute chihuahua named Willow.

Willow was named for Leslie Raber’s beautiful tune, “Willow Waltz.”

And if you knew me when Les was living, you know he and I shared a beautiful friendship.

Les was a marvelous Michigan musician/fiddler who friended us and became like a father to me. Les and Rosemary and John and I enjoyed lots of wonderful times. Les was recognized by the Smithsonian Institute and his fiddle playing was recorded for their archives. He was also named a “Michigan Treasure” by the state legislature. But to me he was more than that. He was a close friend who confided in me, honored me with his friendship, and shared a lot of his life with me. When we got our puppy, Willow, I asked Les if I could name my new puppy “Willow Waltz.” His response: “I’d be honored.”

Les had also written another lovely waltz, “Sophrinia.” That tune is more popular than almost any tune played by Michigan’s old-time dulcimer players. It seems appropriate to name my new doggy, Sophrinia and for short, call her Sophie.

Last week I called Les’s daughter, Judy. I explained that I was thinking about naming my new puppy Sophrinia. Her answer matched her father’s. She said, “It would be an honor.”

Here you can see Les’s lovely tune, “Sophrinia” and even play the music from this link at the top where the small notes are shown. http://www.dulcimers.com/tunes/sophrina.html On my computer, it downloads and I have to re-click on the midi file title at the bottom of my screen to have it pay the music.

I am sure I’ll enjoy Sophie, and I’m going to start playing John’s harp again. When I do, one of the first tunes I’ll learn to play is “Sophrinia.”

You’ll find me posting lots of Sophie photos. I’m sure she’ll be very important in my life.