Movin' On Up

Officially, this truck becomes HnC One when Stilton gets on board.

News of ISIS, Ebola, the Secret Service, and Barack Obama's reign of error will just have to wait - today Hope n' Change is about some real Hope and Change for the Jarlsberg family.

Longtime readers may be aware that the lovely Jarlsberg daughter, now age 27, went through an extended rough patch owing to epilepsy and the long, slow search for the right medications to get everything controlled again. Those medications have powerful and sometimes nightmarish side effects, but finally - finally - the magic combination was found: no more seizures, and no debilitating side effects.

And so daughter Jarlsberg is ready to spread her wings again and fly the Hope n' Change coop. Specifically, she's moving from North Texas to Oklahoma City - and the whole family is doing the U-Haul "Adventure in Moving" thing this weekend.  For that reason, it's unlikely that there will be a Monday posting here because after returning home we intend to soothe our sore muscles in a hot bathtub for 48 hours or so.

This is a huge milestone in our lives, and one which we sometimes doubted would ever happen. The support, prayers, and positive thoughts we've received from Hope n' Change readers during this difficult time mean more than you can possibly know and we're extremely grateful.

BONUS: PUPDATE!

It's been too long since we've done an update on Penny, the official dog of Hope n' Change.  She's grown like crazy since we brought her home from the shelter back in February, and is now flirting with 50 pounds (all muscle, by the way) as she sneaks up on her first birthday this Halloween. And we still don't know what mix of breeds she actually is. Perhaps for her birthday we'll get her a DNA test (and pray that Bark Obama is no relation).

She's mostly outgrown the puppyish need to chew everything in sight, although she recently gnawed a good-sized hole in an area rug. And all bets are off if she's able to grab a roll of toilet paper: seriously, it will get shredded faster than Hillary's records in the State Department basement.

In terms of Penny's training, we've won some battles and lost some - a situation we like to think of as bipartisan compromise. "Okay," Penny said during a particularly tense negotiation, "I'll be good on leash walks, obey basic commands, and let you sleep through the night, but in return I get to drink from the toilet and leap from one piece of furniture to another like a gazelle on crack."

Penny is a sweet and loving girl, an occasional handful, and a constant source of playful energy. We're very glad she's part of the Hope n' Change family.