I am Kim, a new blogger and an older; well, maybe we will use the term “mature” student. My children are grown, identical twin girls, one is a nurse and the other is a doctor in her first year of residency. When they left for college, I found I had extra time so I went back to college to pursue a degree in Criminal Justice.
I just transferred to Penn State from a community college and my first semester (fall) at Penn State World Campus went well. I love online classes; they are so flexible. I was surprised that there were no IT problems, and ANGEL works very well.
The only issue I had during the semester was the new addition to the family. No, it wasn’t a new baby, but then again, it might be considered a baby by some people, she is a Doberman mix.
My Rottweiler, Maggie, passed back in June and the house felt empty, so I found a puppy at the SPCA in mid-September. I named her Pippa, but most of the time I just call her Pip.
She is not named after Pippa Middleton, but after the Pippa from the movie Storm of the Century, a movie made from a book by Stephen King. It is a one of my favorite movies about a big “perfect” snow storm, a stranger appearing on an island and island people being able to keep a secret. I would say more, but we don’t want any spoilers, do we?
Pippa was 4 months old when I got her and looked so cute and innocent; little did I know that she was a little devil dog. I found it very hard to study at times because she was bouncing off the walls and needed constant attention, nothing like Maggie used to be.
Maggie would lay next to my desk sleeping, listening to me talk to myself or read a paper I had written (she didn’t ever have any comments) and after about an hour or so, she would want a walk, which was good, because I was ready for a break from studying. Maggie was the perfect study partner, and I unfairly expected Pippa to be the same. I had forgotten how energetic Maggie had been when she was a puppy.
However, one day after I had her for about a week, I was listening to a genetics lecture and she laid down next to my desk and fell asleep, which was quite suspicious, but any peace was good peace and I was able to listen to the whole lecture.
About a week later, the puppy was still crazy until I put on the next genetics lecture and she went to sleep again. I finally figured out that if I played a genetics lecture, she would lie down next to my desk and sleep, she apparently liked the professor’s voice.
What will I do next semester? I managed to get a lot of studying done using the lectures. Spring semester, I’m taking INART 200, Elvis Presley, is she going to get up and start dancing when I play his songs? This will be interesting.
I must add that she is doing much better now at 7 months, but she still chews everything she can get in her mouth, including my feet and hands, runs around the house like a crazy thing a couple of times a day and doesn’t walk on a leash well, but she is getting better. Here’s a picture of her in one of her rare calm moods, she has discovered that the sofa is more comfortable than her crate. Take note of the glowing eyes.
I believe my next move is to call a dog trainer, because attempting to train her is difficult. I never had a dog like this one who is so “overly enthusiastic.”
Does anybody else have an unconventional “study partner?” I hope I’m not the only one talking to my dog.
