Bindi and Kid Feet

Today was a gathering of the homeschool moms and kids at a local park, which I attented. I met a high school aged foreign exchange student from Israel, a beautiful young woman who is Arab, Muslim, very smart and sophisticated, and we hit it off and had the best conversation. She is staying with one of the families that was represented there today. She misses her family terribly but is looking forward to many adventures as she attends a private school here, named Hemlock (shades of Hogwarts?). Unfortunate name for a school, methinks. She finds this small town too tame for her, but I think she'll be ok once school starts and she meets more students her age. She considers herself a feminist, and said her dad, a psychologist, was a supportive feminist, although her mother isn't. She's quite extraordinary. We exchanged email addresses and I hope to be of cyber-support to her throughout her school year here.

I left to go for my lap swim but decided I wanted a skim milk latte from Starbucks, so stopped by there. While waiting, I picked up a book in their magazine rack called "The Art of Racing in the Rain," by Garth Stein, a novel written from the perspective of his dog, Enzo. It captivated me, and I must have spent an hour reading and drinking coffee before I asked the staff if I could borrow the book. Amazingly, they said yes, and I'll try to finish it before I go home next Monday, so I can take it back to them.

Stopped by a yard sale and coveted a Spartan sewing machine, made by Singer, one of the first electric ones, in pristine condition. They wanted $20, I offered $10 since I would have to pay to ship it home, but they wouldn't go for it. I own a sewing machine, but it has stopped working the way it should, and tho I've had it fixed twice, it's still not what it once was. And I don't want one of those new machines with twelve thousand bells and whistles. I just want something basic.

So I never made it to the lap swim, but came back to the house and made a lime pie which everyone liked. Took a nap, then had dinner. Bindi finally met Gibson, the German shepard/chow mix puppy next door who is gorgeous, but unruly.

Got the name of a massage therapist so will get a 90 minute massage tomorrow. Yippee. Am looking into places to go horseback trail riding, but haven't gotten a return call yet. Need to check out the dog park, although Bindi has this terrible habit of being initially aggressive towards new dogs before settling down to play. When I get her into training for therapy dog status, perhaps some of these bad behaviors will be corrected.

Does anyone know how to get rid of bad doggie breath? Her teeth have a bit of tartar but she has no infection. Maybe it's the food I'm feeding her, but man, her breath could knock over a truck.