My old bull terrier, Murphy, turns twelve this Sunday, 15 June 2025. I adopted Murphy when she was eight, so we’ve been together for nearly four years.
After a bit of a hiatus, I have some fun new Murphy videos. She is doing very well for her age, but the old girl is slowing down a bit. She can handle stairs fine, but sometimes she has to do them at her pace.
So, settle in for a couple of videos of Murphy in her battle against steps (and canine aging):
“Murphy, Queen of the Arctic” sounds like an Edgar Rice Burroughs novella, but when we had snow on Wednesday (22 January 2025), my old girl enjoyed the hoary frost.
I got a couple of videos out of the deal, which I present to you now. Grab a cup of coffee or hot cocoa and cuddle up for some frosty videos:
Yours portly is enjoying one of the benefits of working in modern education: ludicrous amounts off time off from work. As such, here I am indulging in Thanksgiving Break, a time-honored tradition that now lasts an entire week.
Thanksgiving Week is an opportunity to catch up on all of the little errands of life. On Wednesday I’ll get an oil change, a haircut, and an eye exam. A properly lubricated car, a properly cut head of hair, and a properly examined set of peepers—what a day! My doctor is apparently out on a much-deserved sabbatical, so he and I won’t see each other until 2 January 2025—the even of my fortieth birthday!
I’m currently spending time with my personal physician, my sweet girlfriend. Doctor Girlfriend and I enjoyed an early Thanksgiving dinner last night, and the girls—Murphy and her pup—enjoyed cans of turkey-flavored dog slop.
I’ll leave Doctor Girlfriend’s house tomorrow morning, leaving chunky old Murph in her capable hands. My parents have a full house of people coming in for the big day, as well as two young kittens, so out of concern that Murphy might maul the kittens (she hates cats) and generally stink up the joint (she’s a smelly dog, what can I say?), Dr. G has graciously agreed to take in the succulent chunk until I can get back this weekend.
Thanksgiving Break is something of the calm before the storm of the end of the semester. When I get back on 2 December 2024, we’ll have two busy weeks: the school play is Friday, 6 December 2024, and my students’ big concert is during the school day on Friday, 13 December 2024 (what luck!). There’s also quite a bit of Town Council-related business to resolve before the end of the year, and I’m unclear what impact that will have my increasingly tight schedule.
But then all the busyness and pressure lifts for about three weeks. Exam week is easy-peasy for a grizzled pedagogical grognard like yours portly. Followed by two weeks of Christmas Break, and I’m barely working for the next month.
Of course, isn’t that the promise of America? I distinctly remembered friends’ parents who didn’t work the month of December. Granted, they worked for the Savannah River Site, the massive Cold War-era tritium processing facility, so they were essentially federal employees. Naturally, the feds believe it’s a basic human right to get five months paid vacation each year. They’re practically Germans!
But I digress. I’m thankful for what I do, and for time to spend with family and loved ones. Doctor Girlfriend has a real job, so she’ll be working on Thanksgiving Day (and Christmas!). For the rest of us societal freeloaders, let the relaxation begin!
With that, here is 21 November 2022’s “Memorable Monday^2: Thanksgiving Week!“:
Spooky Season III is out now on all streaming platforms (including Spotify)! Pick up the digital download at Bandcamp, and take 20% off any Bandcamp purchase with this promo code: spooky (code expires at 11:59 PM UTC on Thursday, 31 October 2024).
Last night was the Spooktacular, and Halloween is mere days away! I don’t know how much more prepared I can be, but this past week saw some awesome posts about spooky fun:
Happy Sunday!
—TPP
Other Lazy Sunday Installments:
Yours portly was a bit late getting Halloween decorations up this year, but with the Spooktacular looming (it’s tomorrow night!), I had to get things done!
Naturally, that meant partaking in one of my favorite October activities: pumpkin carving! Today, I’m going to share a couple of videos of my pumpkin—and Murphy!
Pickup my newest release: Spooky Season III! Use promo code spooky to take an additional 20% off all purchases on Bandcamp! Code expires at 11:59 PM UTC on Thursday, 31 October 2024.
It’s been a busy week for yours portly, as it’s been Homecoming Week at my school. So I’m going to keep things short today and offer a couple of YouTube Shorts. One features Murphy being cute; the other features yours portly smacking the bass:
The older I get, the more I appreciate animals. My parents have just taken in two precious kittens—a brother and a sister—and watching their cantering and playing is adorable. It’s also a good reminder of the playfulness of youth, in both humans and animals, and how enjoying that playfulness keeps us young, even if we’re not as spry as we used to be.
God Created some amazing stuff. The sheer biodiversity of our world is awe-inspiring, and demonstrates that our God Is Awesome. We serve an amazing Lord.
With that, here is 15 September 2023’s “Remarkable Animals“:
It’s back to school tomorrow, and as a music teacher, I’m in a musical mood. So here some posts that feature me singing bad cover songs to my dog:
Happy Sunday!
—TPP
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Okay, yours portly is behind the eight-ball a bit with the blog, so here is a super quick edition of Phone it in Friday, in which I sing ABBA to my dog, Murphy, while putting on my shoes. It has some real Mr. Rogers vibes to it.
Happy Friday!
—TPP
Well, I’m back to the grind. Who knows what fresh miseries I am currently enduring?
Fortunately, dear readers, you get to watch videos of my fat bull terrier, Murphy!
This week I’ve got Murphy attempting to eat peanut butter and giving potentially lethal kisses:
The Portly Politico 