I haven't updated my blog for quite some time because I really have had nothing cheery to write about. To put it mildly, it has not been a happy several months. The death of Jimmy was incredibly hard, and simultaneous relationship problems made it only that much more difficult.

Lots of changes for me. Ted decided to end our relationship 3 weeks ago, and moved out today. After 5 years of living together, it is incredibly sad and surreal. Many of his things are already gone, but he'll get the last of them in the next day or so. It seems quieter. One of the worst parts is the splitting of Shamus and Pazza. Who knows what the right thing is to do with them? They adore each other, and it pains me to think of separating them, but I selfishly also want Pazza to still be with Hitcher and me.

Hitcher is doing his part to keep me from staying too "down in the dumps." One particularly blue day, he and I headed out for our afternoon walk. I had realized a nap would be impossible when I caught him standing on my chair drinking my soup, so out we went. Hitch did his standard precursory laps around the house, sporting his spiffy black and red coat, of course. I patiently (well, kind of) waited by the front gate, leash in hand. It was at about that moment that I saw the squirrel, and realized just how close H was to it. Too late. As he violently shook the squirrel, incredibly thrilled with himself, I ran across the yard to capture him. I let out a pathetic "damsel-in-distress" scream, which caused the group of camouflage-wearing, football-playing men to come running from the park across the street. How embarassing. They asked what was wrong and I had to tell them my dog got a squirrel. They were highly unimpressed. It gave me a much-needed laugh for the day once I was sure the only blood on Hitch was from the squirrel.

Other than that, school is progressing. Since I'm in school again, I may as well throw in a few collegiate races.