Of Chicken Livers and Required Reading

Before I hurl myself headlong into a description of Ranger's first obedience class, I wanted to share a little scene from our evening worship service. A business meeting was being held to vote on the appointment of two deacons, as well as the selection of a new associate pastor. When ballots were passed out for the deacon voting, the usher paused in front of us momentarily before going past -- without handing us any paper. Since we do not really know the men who were up for the positions, we saw no reason to get feisty. Another set of ballots were distributed (after a series of testimonies which somewhat amounted to 'this guy is awesome') for the pastoral vote, and a lady in the pew in front of us noticed we were again not given ballots. This time around, we did receive papers to vote, but not before I saw the usher who omitted us mouthing to someone else, "they aren't members." I do not want to leave the impression that I am offended by this, but I cannot help but wonder how badly two votes could skew the numbers. Heck, the pastor called the guy at the end of the service to let him know he was approved!

My apologies for the digression. The big event around the Carroll household today was the beginning of Ranger's obedience classes. Sandi and I were more than a little apprehensive about how he would handle the presence of another half-dozen or so dogs for an hour. As it turned out, the big guy did quite well; given his usual outrageous energy level (despite a long walk immediately before we left the house), he was mostly content to remain with the two of us. The treats used as rewards in the class are bits of freeze-dried chicken liver, which are a bit too small for Mr. I Have Better Things to Do Than Chew What I Eat. He typically inhaled several of them and would later deposit one on the floor after a hearty cough. That sums up our Ranger pretty effectively -- a big goober-noggin, but a very lovable one.

On another note related to Ranger's ancestry, he has a fully Labrador classmate who is six months older, shorter, and heavier. That dog is built like an Abrams tank, whereas Ranger is more like an AT-ST from The Empire Strikes Back.

As we have mentioned before, almost all of the paperwork necessary for our home study to commence is submitted. Imagine this -- what remains is all stuff I need to do. Go figure. Anyway, my employer recommendation is yet to be filed, but that will be done once we get hold of another copy of the form. There were also a few miscellaneous papers we had to sign and mail to Bethany. Before the interviewing can begin, though, I must finish reading three books on adoption issues. Sandi took care of her end of this by slipping into some pocket dimension where time does not pass; I get no such luxury. One of the books is done, and I have one chapter left in the second. Was I not supposed to be past the point of massive reading assignments by now?!?