Pets have been a huge part of my life. Twenty years ago I got interested in pug rescue and three of my four pugs came from really bad situations, two (Gumdrop and Digit) from a Missouri puppymill and one from an environment that was even more unspeakable - Jimbo's original owner killed his toddler child only a couple of weeks after we got Jimbo away from his wrath.

Pugs are said by many to have the most childlike personalities of all dogs - some say they're the court jesters of the dog world. They're high maintenance and particularly hard to manage in the summertime - they cannot bear our brutal heat and humidity.

I only have one pug now and, needless to say, with no grandchildren to spoil, Jimbo leads the life of Riley!! LOL!

Things have improved quite a bit - for me, my family and my pug. I'll be back soon, I've kinda' drifted away from the computer recently.

This summer has been a doozie, hasn't it? I read that NASA's climate people say weather like we're having now is going to become the norm. I'm not sure I can adapt!!