Kayla made a difficult choice to change softball travel teams for this fall. She has been with the Rebel organization for about 3 years now. She loves her team and coaches, but felt it was in her best interest to make a final change. I am confident that where ever Kayla plays she will be a strong contributer to her team.

We are off to San Francisco next weekend for a picnic then hopefully an unofficial college visit to one of Kayla’s choices. More on that later…

Felix and Batman are doing as wonderful as ever. Batman will make the trip to SF next week to play with his cousin Otis, while Felix will stay to guard the house and sleep on the sofa watching Animal Planet.

Speaking of athlete, Kayla tooka trip up to the Bay Area to visit Stanford a few weeks back. Much to my surprise, she LOVED it! I thought for sure, being the second largest university in the world, she would be overwhelmed and want to go smaller, but noooooo. So now she is really keeping up to date with their softball coaches, as well as those from San Francisco State and Denison University. There are a couple of others, but at this time, I think those are her top choices. Her SAT and ACT scores as well as her GPA are all high enough for any of these colleges, but she is out today taking the ACT again to try and improve upon her scores so that she is eligable for even more scholarship money.

Travel softball has come to an end for the early part of this season and high school ball has already started. There never seems to be a break, but she loves to play. If everything is played and goes the way it should, there is NO REASON why Kayla’s high school team shouldn’t be in the State Championships this year. Of course, we all felt that way last year as well…so it’s a wait and see game.

I’ll update again after her tests have returned and we all have some idea of what the heck is going on!

Travel ball is starting to wind down and high school ball is starting. Poor Kayla, there never seems to be a break - but she loves it! She is hoping to go to college and continue to play. We have had some very good responses from several colleges. Our goal is to have her verbally commited by this summer and signed by November of her senior year. Keep your fingers crossed.

Batman and Felix are both doing great. Batman will continue to work towards getting his therapy dog certification this year. He is doing well and should easily certify by this Spring. Work has been slow (being self-employed that tends to happen during recessions) but my contract job has been doing their best to get work to me on a constant basis - that has been a HUGE help!

Here in Southern Nevada - we all wish you the best for a new year - and we’ll check back soon!

Earlier this week was just the latest. I was just loving on the puppies when I noticed what looked like a dirty leg on Felix. I bent down to wipe it off and it turns out it was blood. He had sliced his leg open on something - who knows what with him…so, off to the vets - yet again. Now, if you know Felix, you know he doesn’t like much of anything that is different. No conehead, no wrapping on his feet or legs, he just has to be difficult. So, after they kept him, cleaned it up and stitched it, I get the call to come pick him up.

Upon my arrival and getting my little angel, I note they have his leg, down to his foot, bandaged. I mention this will NOT work. But no, they want to give it a try. In Felix’s defense, he left it alone for a grand total of 14 hours. I was proud of him. After biting off the wrapping 3x - I finally put a conehead on him. Yeah, that just sent him into the “Nuts” zone. So, back to the vets I went to get the ever dreaded sedation. Do you know that even on drugs he was a pain the a$%!!! Now we have just left the stitches exposed and try and keep him from licking it.

Oh, and it’s not just him…Batman wants to clean and protect his big brother. So not only was I already taking Batman darn near everywhere with us, now it is everywhere! He did the same thing this summer with Felix’s ears after surgery. It took a month longer to heal because I couldn’t keep Batman from cleaning them.

Dogs! You gotta love ‘em - but I swear they cost more than my kid! Kayla doesn’t see the doctor this much! I have to find out who Felix is crushing on so I can put an end to his visits!

Ok, no more soap box about fundraising. Things are rolling right along for Kayla and her college and softball future. We are playing in several tournaments this Fall where colleges have written that they will be coming to see her. I believe she is talented enough to play anywhere, but we’ll just have to wait and see which, if any, colleges agree. We have had some positive responses back on schools that have seen her mechanics video, now she just has to do her part and play as well as we know she can when they are watching.

Kayla has several colleges in her sites, but we’ll just hold off on naming them because I am supersticious and don’t want to jinx anything. Her first priority is education, so we’ll just see which of the schools will give her the best leg up for her future plans of working with and training animals. She wants to major in Psychology with a minor in some type of animal sciences and behaviors. She is in AP Psych now in high school and loves it. She is disappointed that she will have gone as far as she can in this program in high school and will have to wait for college to go further. I am thinking next year because she will be on a limited morning schedule as a senior, maybe she can take a college course through UNLV or CSN if she wants. We’ll just have to wait and see where she ends up going to college and what their requirements are.

So far we have only had one tournament this Fall, but the bulk of them are coming up at the end of this month and all through October. We are off to Barstow next weekend, so when we get back, I’ll post an update of how the team, and Kayla, did. Wish us luck!

We are very proud of our boy since not all dogs pass this testing. As a matter of fact, two dogs in the class did not pass last night. It was a shame because they did so well last week in the practice test, then last night took one little, easy point of the test and decided not to do it! They both refused to follow the command “down” - which they both do all the time! Just goes to show that dogs really do have good days and bad days, just like us!

So please, take a moment to congratulate Batman the next time you see him!

Kayla is almost back to being healthy after a 7 week battle with Viral Bronchitis. She still has some coughing and breathing problems, especially at night, but we are getting there. For her, softball will start up again this week full time. Their first tournament is in Barstow, CA on Labor Day Weekend. This will be the first time I have ever missed a tournament. Sadly, my doggy sitter will be out of town and there is no one to watch Felix. Batman would have gone with us, but I can’t take both. So, I guess I will just have to get news from the road.

Soon, school. Boo - I want another month to play. At least Kayla will be driving herself this entire year, so that is a gas saving, good thing! She is a very good driver and is looking forward to next week. Her first 6 months of driving will be up and she will be able to have people in the car with her. She WILL NOT be a taxi, but it will make things easier if she needs to help someone out with a ride.

Hopefully she will keep up her friendships with all the lifeguards she met this summer. There are some really great people she worked with. I know she wishes she could continue to work during school, but with all her classes and softball, it is just not possible.

I guess it is good-bye summer (at least the vacation part - the heat is here for a while longer) and hello to classrooms and homework!