Thank you all! Lizz has been taking care of me like crazy. i should be returning to work tomorrow i hope.

Wow, I leave for a couple days and I hardly know where to start back in.

Obviously though, VB, I wish there was something I / we could do to help you recover quicker. That sounds brutal, dude. Lizz must have her hands full, but apparently, she's doing a great job. Hope you get better real soon!

All, thanks for the positive reinforcement about Carmen. Despite her harried little life to date (or at least until a week ago), she adapts very quickly to whatever comes her way. She's great in the car; she's great with other dogs, and cats; a roomful of people doesn't seem to throw her. Now our two cats seem to be getting along with her. She's learning our routine (which we're trying to keep somewhat varied so spontaneous MINI outings can still happen) and settling in nicely. Once she's been through the obedience training and has a little brush-up on crate-training, I think she'll be a great companion. Stay tuned...

Mitch, I haven't even heard of Bolt--you know how life in the southern tier can be...but I'll check it out.