Transition Weekend!

Good Morning to our Glitter Litter Community! And Happy Two Week Birthday to our babies! The puppies will be celebrating by welcoming their first visitors and getting their individual pictures taken for the two-week collage.

This is our transition weekend. I have made it through my first semester at the University of Montana and we will head to Utah for the long winter break on Monday morning. Although being a professor is not new to me, everything else has been. It might seem like having two litters of puppies while starting a new life and new job is a little crazy but actually it has helped because I know how to do it – it is something familiar and something I believe that I do well. So, yes, it is stressful and hard but at least it is familiar stress and hard work in a life filled with newness.

But we did it – in no small part due to the efforts of the World’s Best Puppy Nanny and Right Hand Son – Galen. He has been another familiar presence in my new life, and he has been just great. He lovingly tends the puppies while I am at work, and he is company and help when I am home. We have played more cards and Scrabble than we have in years, and we have just had time together, and so this has been a tender few months for that reason as well. Galen starts college in January at the University of Montana and so he is resigning his position as Puppy Nanny, which is the reason we had the two litters so close together. He will still live with me but his new job will be to find his place in the world; he will be accompanied, of course, by his sweet puppy from the F Litter, Faith.

And so we will spend the weekend cleaning and getting the house in order and the cars packed. We are so appreciative of Heidi – she is the person at work who runs the office and knows everything and has SO helped with my transition at work. Heidi lives relatively close to us and will be checking on our house while we are in Utah, giving me yet another reason to feel gratitude towards Heidi. The puppies are grateful to Heidi as well because she almost always has one of their pictures up on her computer!

These puppies get more beautiful with every day. Their colors are so vivid and they are such chunky little packages! They are all walking – well, staggering. They tip over easily but it is a short fall and they are undaunted by their setbacks – a good lesson for all of us. They are sweet and cuddly to hold, and very kissable. I am looking forward to spending the next six weeks raising them in Utah and sharing them with all my Utah friends.

I have a lot to get done this morning so let me get to the pictures. There are two of Jamaica focused on her eyes so you can see the progress. Yes, they look blue and this is normal so don’t worry! All of the puppies will have blue-gray eyes for a bit and then they will darken up. There is a close-up of T-Town, as Galen calls Toronto. I loved the nursing line-up last night so took that picture to share with you, and then there is a sweet picture of the two puppies sleeping together.

I will post pictures again later, including the collage, so check back this evening. In the meantime, have a fabulous day and thanks for being part of our community.