Another Day with Nothing Planned

I lived for days like this in the school year.  I'm trying to appreciate these days because in few short weeks, they will be gone and I will be pining for them once again.  We went to church and helped pick up and came home.  Took care of puppy, ate lunch, made muffins and ate them,  now lying in bed reading.  

Summer is good, I love it, but I do get bored.  I am most definetely an extrovert.  I get energy from being with people that I know.  Down times are good, but I feel restless, sometimes melancholy, when I'm alone too long.  

This will end up being the summer of dogs and weddings.  Three weddings( went to Nathan Garcia's yesterday, Leah's in a few weeks, then JC's) (and two wedding showers and a baby shower), and four dogs (Rex, Diego, Professor twice, and Julie and her dog for two days last week).

Whelp back to the reading, Facebook, and pointless iPad games.

4th of July

 Got to go to Lake Wabaunsee today for the 4th.  It was a short stay due to the new puppy but Leah came as a surprise!  I feel like we usually spend the 4th at the lake and usually with the kids but I'm sure it hasn't actually happened in awhile.  I feel like everything is changing.  

I'm in that middle of the summer not sure I still love it place.  I do love sleeping in and super long quiet time on the deck and leisurely afternoons.  I do.  But I'd so much rather be doing something for others.  No sure I'm up for the stress of school starting either, but when it does, I'll be ready.  

I miss the kids.  They'll be here for the wedding in 4 weeks!  Yikes!  A wedding in 4 weeks!  Is that why I feel like everything is changing?  

A Quiet Dog Day of Summer

Week two with Diego and we have settled into a rhythm.  Having Professor here this week is working out ok, too.

Last night I took Diego to Alexis' house to play with her puppies and dogs.  It was sort of stressful as we also had a meal together while they played but Diego loved it!  One of her puppies and her bigger dog were fairly rough and her puppies would gang up and tackle Diego but the little guy held his own.  He bared his teeth and went back at them and romped and rolled and wagged his tail the whole time.  All the puppies were covered in slobber when we were done.  I am determined to socialize Diego with other dogs.  Plus, he was exhausted so Scott and I were able to put him in his kennel and go to the late show!  We put him out to potty and gave him a drink and he slept til 8!  That's doable!

I've worked out the feeding and the other dogs are adjusting.  Professor has food allergies and Diego's stomach gets upset if he eats anything but his food.  Rex nibbles like a cat. Also, Professor has put on some serious weight!  So three times a day I put their food out in Tupperware containers and encourage them to eat.  Rex has eaten a fair amount and Professor will eat if it is far enough from Diego.  Diego gets distracted and sometimes looks for a place to poop in the middle of a meal so I have to sit there and keep everyone on track.

Professor absolutely hates Diego.  If Diego messes with him, he runs to the bedroom and sticks his head under the bed.  Rex is becoming more tolerant of Diego (see the Facebook video of him pulling on Rex's tail) and side benefit, he is tolerating Professor more too now.

So this morning after feeding and pottying them, I had my quiet time on the patio with Rex next to me, Professor on the other couch, and Diego played with his toys and ran all over the deck.  Scott and I took all three pups on a short walk to a large field which wore out Diego,so he napped while I taught water jog and Scott went to help a friend.  I even got a lunch and he was still asleep!  Scott and I do trade off and Diego does take a bunch of naps.  I took a nap already today, too!

Today is one of the rare days of summer that I don't have much to do.  I got Adelle yesterday and we made food for a neighbor with MS and for my busy friends Alexis and Jeff.  I enjoyed my time with Alexis.  I do feel somewhat tied to home but that will get better.

Here is a cute pic of Professor choosing the smallest bed.

Here is me this afternoon covered in sleeping pups.  professor is napping elsewhere.

Leah Shower #2

Whew what a whirlwind of a few days!

The new pup is awesome but we forgot what having a new pup is like.  Lots of work!  

He's going to be a great dog, smart, fun.... Potty training and training going well so far.

Thursday ran to LV town to pick up la mama.  Always nice to spend time with her.  I do love her so much.  I struggle with watching her age.  She gets helpless and dependent while here and it frustrated her not being able to help me out more with everything.  We toured Meadowlark on Friday hoping it would be amazing and it was just confusing and overwhelming.  Too many choices!  Too many things to consider.  There isn't a perfect solution.   I hope she doesn't wait until our options are limited.  I wish she knew clearly what she wanted. I worry about her at home alone.  

Friday night I helped a friend put on a baby shower for a TRU core family.  Wow.  It was a huge event.  Unbelievable, really, and not many people came but I think the family felt honored.   I made one of those silly watermelon baby things. It was tons of work!

After the shower Mom and I went to eat a burger with PD (Pastor Dave) and Mel.  

Friday night Scott had a huge issue involving poop and Diego during the night.  Saturday morning got the silly little guy to play while I had my prayer time then got the house cleaned and got everything ready for the shower.  Then Leah, her four friends and Professor arrived.  Still had Mom and new pup.  It might have been a little much.  I fixed them a nice spaghetti dinner then the girls went out.  Saturday night Diego got up three times.  Yup.

This morning was stressful trying to get ready for church while Diego was wide awake.  We managed it though.  Mom liked the service.  At one point, a verse in the song talked about winding down toward the end of life and being with Jesus forever and Mom and I cried.  

Got home and the girls and Mom napped and a Scott took care of all the dogs and I got things ready for the shower.  We had succulent cupcakes, jalepeño popper dip, and strawberries with whipped cream.  We also had mimosas with champagne or ginger ale.  I might have had a few but they were necessary:).  

There was a great turn out for the shower.  

Leah's friends from school, Shari, and Season came.

Joanna was here and Julie, Karalee, Virginia and Hunter.

Barb dropped off a gift and Mary and Alexis popped by later, too.  I knew Season and Alexis would hit it off and they did.  They stayed after and a Season gave me a bunch of good tips for Diego.

Did I mention we are watching Professor this week?  yep, I'm covered in dogs.  

Diego

The long awaited for day finally arrived.  Yesterday we drove 8 hours each direction to meet our newest family member, Diego, previously known as Bobo.  Some time ago, Scott and I were watching TV and Rex was cuddling me as he usually does and Scott said, "Where's my dog to cuddle?"  We have been on a waiting list to rescue a Sheltie but alas, when they finally got Sheltie puppies at a local shelter, they didn't approve us.  We wanted a Sheltie because they are super smart.  We loved Allie-dog, and I loved my Sheltie growing up, Laddie.  Scott always wanted a bigger dog.  Rex is now 11 and when I think of him not being around a ton longer, I get the itch to go get another tiny fluffy dog.  So when Scott found this puppy on the internet, a tiny sheltie, we knew it was ours!

The drive was horrendous, truly, lots of bad highways, turns, then curvy roads.  We were exhausted.  We did listen to a book on cd together which was fun.  And on the way home, Diego was great!  Scott held him quite a bit and we stopped a lot when he squirmed.  He ate and peed and pooed just like a good boy then slept.

When we got home at 3:30am(by the grace of God, truly), he went to sleep in his little carrier right away.

This morning, I got up at 7:30 and woke him up.  We went outside and I introduced him to Rex.  Rex wasn't sure what to think.  Diego was in a playful mood.  He got a hold of Rex's leash (see video on Facebook) and pulled, which baffled Rex.  Then they did the sniffy sniffy which went well.  Then Diego tried to get Rex to play and Rex would have none of it.  He just kept backing away like "what are you doing?"  Rex was curious, though, and kept sniffing him.  Overall, it went really well!

Diego seems to be adapting really well.  He really likes his little carrier and prefers to be in it so we open the end and keep him near us on the bed or couch.  He has pottied outside lots of times already and only tried to pee where he wasn't supposed to once and he whined first.  He loves his little toy and chew stick and he sleeps a lot.

Rex likes Diego but he is mad at me.  He'll get over it.  Hannah did the same thing when we brought Leah home.  Ha ha..

Quincy

Scott had soccer camp this week so he invited his cousin Matt's daughter, 10 year old Quincy, to stay with us.  We had a bit of adjusting to do since it's been awhile since we've had a kiddo here, but once we worked that out, it was a fun week!  Quincynis pretty adjustable since she goes back and forth between parents.  She arrived during a large church BBQ here on Sunday night which was hard for her and then Scott had a meeting.  She barely knows me but when she got tired that night, I laid in her bed and read to her until she fell asleep.  The next day we went to Walmart to get her a swim suit and run errands and then we were best pals!  I bought her a succulent plant at Dillons and she was thrilled. She named it and carried it around with her and took care of it.

There was lots of fun playing with Scott, smoothies, and board games, a couple of trips to the pool and she was gone!  Looking back, I realize what a great kid she is.  She only behaved like a ten year old a couple of times,the rest of the time she was easy!  Scott and Rex miss her tons.

Leah Shower

On Saturday, I drove to Newton for a wedding shower for Leah.  It made it so real!  She's really getting married!

I met Leah at her house-her house!  It's so cool to see Leah's dream of owning and decorating her own home come true.  It's already so cute and she is just beginning to get things to decorate it and they aren't quite done remodeling.  It's such a cute home, the perfect starter home for a couple.  

Here is a bouquet of flowers that Leah had on her counter: flowers picked from the prairie where the wedding will be!

The shower was given by Crystal, Leah's soon to be sister in law.

It was awesome to get to know Crystal as I know Leah is crazy about her.  Crystal and her Mom were such a hoot!  Crystal's Mom made the cakes, yum!! And Crystal made the fruit display and served iced coffee, also yum.

I loved spending time with David's Mom, Terri, and meeting the rest of the family.  Such nice, fun, down to earth people.  Leah couldn't have picked a better family to join. (Click on the pic of Leah and I to see Terri)

Some of David's cousins were there and Leah's friends and her boss, Patty, also.

We ate and watched Leah open her gifts and chatted and laughed for a couple of hours.  Then we met up with Dacid and his Dad and ate together at a new BBQ place in town.  I drove home late but beat the storms home.  

I am so happy for Leah, everything is coming together for her.