Progress for Jaycee

 After nearly a month for me at home, and 50 days since Jaycee arrived, I think we've both made pretty good progress. 

~Spring flowers for sale at a local feed store~

Jaycee is now available for adoption via the rescue. There have already been a couple of calls, but neither were a good fit from her. She is a really nice dog, and has a gentle and easy going personality. She's nervous meeting new people, but if someone is with her that she knows, she's fine. 

~ I love Jaycee's smile in this photo~

Her house-manners are a work in progress, as we expected them to be. She's gaining more confidence when it comes to exploring the yard and the house on her own. One thing that you can't help but notice, is that Jaycee highly food motivated (such a Lab thing!) she's very sensitive and is a pleaser. She is very curious about everything and wants to do as she's asked, she just needs someone to show her the way. 

It's not that Jaycee doesn't have any one to help her do that. There are plenty of mentors in our house, and she's great at following the crowd. But in hopes of helping her find her "inner-Lab" we are teaching her about retrieving. Jaycee chases after the ball, but her bringing it back needs just a little bit of work. In the video below, you can see that she runs right past us every time, and every time she makes us laugh. I'm sure that eventually Jaycee will get the hang of it.

And finally, here's another bit of advice I've picked up by watching Julia Child this past week.

 **Remember to time your vegetables perfectly with your meal, so they don't get cold or get overcooked.** 

 At our house timing is everything at mealtime. And when I forget to steam the veggies beforehand .... well, it gets noisy and crowded with too many cooks in the kitchen!

Me and Julia Child and The Dogs

My first week at home was a bit of a blur, the second week, was kind of a repeat of that. I've gotten a lot of rest. And I have to mention that I've been the recipient of some very thoughtful friends who've brought amazing and delicious meals, sent cards, texted, took me to lunch, and last week a good friend and I went to the movies one afternoon. Each new day brings a little more healing – for which I am beyond grateful.

While at home by myself, there's really not a lot going on. The dogs have the routine that they are used to, and I'm trying to continue with that. This routine is mostly sleeping, and wanting to go outside midday, when our dog-walker typically comes. 

~Max~

The quiet moments in between, when I'm not napping, I have been spent reading, cruising Facebook, and watching cooking shows, which is a favorite way that I love to pass time - Even though I am not a fancy cook and I am certainly not a home-chef. Nevertheless, it doesn't keep me (or anyone) from learning about and loving food and of course going out and trying new restaurants because, well, I love to eat.💓

But back to the cooking shows. I've been watching Julia Child's cooking show from the 1960's.  For those of you who don't know or remember who Julia Child is, you may remember the 2009 movie about her, Julie and Julia - And if you didn't see the movie, I'll tell you that she is a famous chef, author, and television personality, who made French cuisine accessible to American audiences. She was one of the first women to host her own cooking show on television, providing tips and lessons on how to prepare French food simply and easily.

~Foster Girl, Jaycee~

I've really enjoyed watching "The French Chef" a couple of  mornings a week, and I am even learning a few things along the way. In these old episodes, I've been taking Julia's simple advice and for fun, I've been posting her advice on Facebook and adding my thoughts to a specific day that I'm home recovering. So, I'll share a couple of my favorites with you. 

**On DAY THREE of my at home recovery, Julia Child's advice for the day was:

**If you're alone in the kitchen and you drop the lamb, you can always just pick it up. Who's going to know?** 

This is really true, who would know, right? However in my world, it will only work if you can beat that 2 or 3 second dog who always sees whatever you drop at that moment it's dropped. (photo below is Jake and Ree).   

**On DAY NINE of my home recovery and Julia Child's advice for the day was:

*to not be afraid of eggs.*

I've never met an egg I was afraid of, and our girl Ree, on the left, certainly isn't afraid of them, and I've no doubt that very, very soon, Jaycee won't be leery of eggs and will love to eat them as much as we all do. 

And finally,  **on DAY TWELVE of my home recovery and Julia Child's advice for the day was to 

**BE FEARLESS and have fun.** 

Todd is of course the most fearless in our house, not even afraid of his shadow, and I think he has fun too! 

I hope you've had a fun weekend - Onto my 3rd week at home.