The state of the union.

It looks like we will not be able to make our summer trip up north as hoped. James completed his MBA a few years back, and now as part of our journey, mama is in the middle of an MFA program. To become competitive in the field, James has been taking classes to become a certified dog behavioralist and trainer. James is still enrolled with Animal Behavior College and part of his curriculum is interning at the Pasadena Humane Society. He broke the news to mama that his projected end date will not be until early August. His voice was not very chirpy when he was breaking it down. But she understands the sole purpose of us living here in Los Angeles is James and mama fulfilling educational goals. So since education for both of them is the main goal, it seems everything else takes a back seat, including me playing at beaches. All the same, many of the pieces of our dog training business are slowly adhering and things are falling into place. We still have very few clients. In fact, just one and his name is Kobe.

The funny thing about Kobe, he is not what you would expect. He is a handsome chocolate lab, eight years old, slightly graying hair around his muzzle, who loves attention. If someone were to meet him for the first time, they may be alarmed at his commanding presence. But actually, he is one big teddy bear. When I first met him, he was a voluptuous 110 pound, out of shape mammoth. Now he has trimmed down to a 95 pound of lean machine. When mama met him for the first time he was loving her so much while she petted him that she was welcomed by a behemoth sized deuce he laid right next to her feet while she was chatting with Uncle Jay. I was not very gracious with him like mama was, nor was I expressing my enthusiasm. Instead, I simply walked up beside him and tinkled on his nose as a way to express my ingratitude and displeasure at his treatment of my mama. She deserves tender loving care, not a warm steaming caca!

Time has passed since, some many moons ago, but we are still reminded of Kobe's powerful dynamic punch. He never lets up either. We are always amazed at what we find and how pungent his message is. But we love him.