Today was not a typical Monday.  It started the same way they usually do, except Sambuca stayed over.... again.  We all rode to the clinic together without incident.  It wasn't long after arriving at the villas, that Sambuca's parents came to get him.  He was so happy to see them, but I could tell that he was torn about leaving me.  He'd developed quite an attachment to me over the weeks, and I knew it would hurt him to be without me.  Sambuca fought through his grief and put on a brave little smile and waddled out the door with his parents all the same; tough little guy.

The strangest thing about today was that my mother was having something called a birthday.  What I've learned about this strange human ritual is that not all humans celebrate this 'day' the same way.  It seems that most of mother's helpers enjoy song and cake on their days, but mothers' was a much more somber event.  In fact, it seemed like most of the helpers took to whispering about the birthday, and started to smell of fear if mother got wind of the discussion.  There was still cake though, and since Anna was visiting today on account of the fact that she was on a 'spring break', there were lots of delicious crumbs for me and Bea to enjoy. 
Well, some people are scared of my mother, but not me, so here goes "Happy Birthday, Mom".  You don't look a day over 5 (in dog years, that is).