WE'RE BACK, AND THANKFUL!

Poor dad. He hasn't been available to help me post in several weeks and here's why. As he explains in GIMME SHELTER, it was 30+years ago that he left day-to-day teaching to follow a different drummer and pursue his artistic calling. Although he's been sub-teaching at the local juvenile probation camps, working with incarcerated teens, nothing prepared him for a recent gig, filling in for an ailing  AP English teacher at a local high school. After two weeks, my black belt dad looked like he'd gone 5 rounds with UFC champ Anderson Silva: his eyes were glazed, his heart was racing, and his stomach was in knots. With another month looming, dad showed the better part of valor and tapped out, agreeing to take a greatly reduced workload. He's sorry that he couldn't push through, but mom and I are happy to have him back home with us and smiling again. Want to see just how thrilled I am to have my 'big dog' back? Here's a video of us hanging at home, playing my favorite game, ' Jump'.

Congratulations to our dear friend and pup-lover Jennienne LeClercq of NYC. When her beloved Stella passed away, she wasn't sure she'd ever share her life and love with another pooch. Enter, Darla, who's already captured Jenniene's heart…and most of the bed. The only tough spot so far - getting this discrete, 15-month-old country honey to squat on the New York sidewalks!

Jenniene and 'Darla' Darling @ the Central Park Boathouse

The fabulous Stella

Since it;s Holiday Season (and seemingly has been since July), we thought we'd share a Buzzfeed heart-warmer about Leo, a down-and-out Cambodian pooch and the guardian angel that turned his life around. If this evokes a 'Bah, humbug!', you'd best go see your cardiologist.

Leo with his angel, Meagan