The Daily Parker

1. Do not take Parker for a car ride right after dinner. Or, at the very least, don't let him sit in the front seat if you do. You'll just have to feed him again when you get home, and find the Fabreeze.
2. If you leave the bedroom while Parker is sleeping on the bed and go to Wild Oats, he won't notice you've left until you return. If you leave while he's holding a ropie toy and looking at you with (literal) puppy-dog eyes, the entire neighborhood will notice you've left immediately.
3. No shoe is safe, on or off a foot.
4. A large grasshopper (2" long) that hops when a puppy's nose makes contact provides thrilling entertainment—for about four seconds. Then there's a crunch, a buzzing sound, another crunch, and the next day you get to see the grasshopper again.

It's the kid's first day on the job. I think he's doing fine, but he'll probably be more productive once his nap is over:

Parker and I stopped by my grandmother's place today, and he was a big hit with all the residents. He met about fifty people, let everyone pat him, didn't get crazy (he is only 12 weeks old, so this is huge), and was the sweetest little dog he could be. More than one of the staff suggested he'd make a good therapy dog when he gets older.

But after this morning, he's one pooped pup:

As little Parker (Cutest. Puppy. Ever.) alternates between chewing his rawhide stick, a vegan snack my mom found, my laptop power cord, and my toes, I'm loading up on carbs for today's ride and reading the news. The Washington Post had a heartwarming story that made me almost as happy as Parker's second accident-free night with us:

Facing the most difficult political environment since they took control of Congress in 1994, Republicans begin the final two months of the midterm campaign in growing danger of losing the House while fighting to preserve at best a slim majority in the Senate, according to strategists and officials in both parties.

Over the summer, the political battlefield has expanded well beyond the roughly 20 GOP House seats originally thought to be vulnerable. Now some Republicans concede there may be almost twice as many districts from which Democrats could wrest the 15 additional seats they need to take control.

If you're at all unhappy with the war, the imminent collapse of the housing market, the enormous differences between how the rich are getting richer while everyone else isn't, or how the government is listening to your phone calls, and you happen to live in a Republican district, you can do something to change it when polls open in 64 days and 15 hours.

The WASP blog is morphing into something else. I felt there was no alternative than to create a Parker category. Here's why:

And then there's this:

Perhaps the "P" stands for Politics and Puppy Parker?

...can we keep him?

Here's Parker:

Anne and I have arranged a blind date with Parker tomorrow:

We may even take him home. He's a beagle-rat terrier-German shepherd mix from a farm in downstate Illinois. We think he'll take to urban living like a duck to water.