January is the Cruelest Month

I remember reading somewhere that January is the month with the highest death rate. In the last week or two, I've found out about two members of my choir losing a mother-in-law and a father respectively, and two online friends I've known for 14+ years losing a mother and mother-in-law. Plus, an online friend that I've known since 1995 passed away last week (this wasn't a great surprise, as we knew she had metastatic cancer and only a few months left, but it was still unpleasant news).

It's a good thing I'm not superstitious, because if I was, I'd be out buying good-luck charms and whatever else is out there. I suspect that this statistical blip is related to the fact that I'm now old enough for my friends and I to have elderly parents. Still, that's quite enough for one month.

Surprising Ancestry

This is Poppy, the mutt we adopted about two years ago. What kind of dog do YOU think she is?

Our guess was a Doberman/German shepherd mix. The vet thought she might have some Lab in her, and someone else mentioned Rottweiler (mostly because of the coloring).

We got a doggie DNA testing kit for Christmas this year, and the results came back today. We were quite surprised, and I'll bet you will be, too.

[drumroll] And the results are:
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• 20–36% Siberian Husky

• 10–19% Boxer
• 10–19% German Shepherd
• 10–19% Lhasa Apso

• <10% Chihuahua
• <10% Chow Chow

!!!

A Slightly Smaller Black Hole

M found his PE clothes today. In French class. Still no sign of B's T-shirt, so I ordered her a new one.

Do We Have a Black Hole?

Both B and M brought their PE clothes home to be laundered at the beginning of break, two weeks ago. (Or so they say!) We arrived home from our vacation on Saturday night, and I promptly started work on the mountains of laundry that had accumulated. B's sweatshirt and shorts were in the hamper, but no T-shirt, and M's PE clothes were nowhere to be found. He remembers bringing them into the house, in a plastic bag, and I have a vague memory of seeing him bring a plastic bag in (although my memory is not always reliable for stuff like this). Nonetheless, we searched everywhere we could think of yesterday, and no PE clothes were to be found.

Both kids were sent off to school this morning with something to wear for PE (so they don't lose points), and instructions to check the lost and found plus every classroom they went to after PE. (PE clothes are emblazoned with their last names, since everyone at the school has an identical set.)  Once they've looked at school, I guess it's time to order new clothes. And search for the black hole that has taken up residence at our house.