There's a New Kid in Town

I know, I know...I said we wouldn't get another dog just to keep Troy company while he's out on the road.

I lied.

Only it's not really a lie if it happens to be the truth at that moment. My intention was to not get another dog (at that moment). We did not need another dog (at that moment). We were NOT getting another dog (at that moment).

The moment passed.

Meet Pippen! He's 5 years old, a Scottish Terrier/Miniature Schnauzer mix. At least that's what they tell us.

He's had a busy past few weeks. A little over a month ago, he was probably with a family and was well taken care of. We think this because he is well mannered, house-trained, knows commands, he's been neutered, etc. He's also had his voice box removed, and while we don't particularly like that it happened, it's evidence that he had people in his life.

But then he got lost. Or "let go" when his people couldn't afford him. We'll never know.

He was found wandering around and taken to a shelter where he hung out for about five days. He was adopted by a young couple and stayed with them for three weeks before they realized that they just weren't able to spend any time with him. They both worked, the man was going back to school at nights, and the woman really wasn't a dog person. Pippen was practically living in a laundry closet. And they were feeding him really cheap dog food.

Thank goodness we came along!

It's been a love at first sight kind of a thing.

Pippen's been a bit of a fixer-upper in his first two weeks with us. He had some itchy skin because of the poor quality dog food he'd been eating, but that's cleared up nicely. His initial vet check showed a few problem teeth that needed to be removed. Eating and chewing on rawhide is much nicer without the pain!


And since he was knocked out for the dentistry, I had them remove a mole from his back!. He's been sporting a little Frankenstein look.


Moles can go bad, the vet told me, become cancerous and such. Truth is, I had that mole removed because it freaked people out. It was right on his back and when people petted him they would hit that mole and pull their hand back and go "Eewwwwww! Is that a tick?"

After having that happen half a dozen times, and yes, I was a little freaked out myself, that mole was coming OFF!

He's a mellow little guy, content to just sit...

...or lie on the floor. This particular way of relaxing is a Scottie trait. And we laugh every time he does it.

All in all, Pippen's transition into our family has been perfect.

Pippen is home.

Yeah...Well...You're Short

I called over a kindergartner to read to me today. I patted the seat next to me so he'd sit down. He scrunched up his face and sighed.

"When I'm close to you it makes me very nervous."

"What? Why do I make you nervous?"

"Because you are so old."

Maybe I smell like his great-grandma?

Love my job.

Taking Precautions

...and not taking any chances.



Happy Monday morning!

At least (so far) no dogs have gotten in the way.

Just In Time For Spring

For most of last week there just didn't seem to be anything to write about. Nothing that seemed to be terribly interesting or even worth the time to write about it. Ho-hum life.

Then it changed. The house was no longer quiet, there were people coming and going, carting things out, hauling things in. Oliver not at all happy about strange men being in the house all day. It was the opposite of ho-hum.

The opposite of ho-hum cost us $4000.

'Twas the furnace.

Back on Monday, I woke up to a chillier than normal house. I like it cooler at night, but this was a bit much. If the weather had been properly warming up, I might not have noticed, but the thermostat showed under 60 degrees.

I threw some clothes in the dryer for the boys ("Hot clothes! Getcher hot clothes right here!), 'cause that would be the only way I could coax them out of bed to get ready for school. I called Troy and he led me through the steps of checking the pilot light and so forth. At first it wouldn't re-light...and then all of a sudden it did. Then the blower wouldn't come on...and then it did.

The house heated up nicely and to me that was the last I was going to think about it.

It would be like our microwave. 6 months ago if you simply shut the door and pushed start it would make a clicking sound and never heat your food. But if you SLAMMED the door, it worked fine. Then one day, and ever since, no slamming needed. Food's hot, everyone's happy, no money spent.

That's what this whole furnace thing was. A little blip that fixed itself.

Then it happened a few more times and Troy called the Action guys that were out here sometime and left a magnet on the side of the water heater. How handy.

They were scheduled to come out on Friday morning between 9 and 11, and they showed up right at 10. Oliver was not happy. They removed some panels and did what they do - I won't even try to explain it. Bottom line - the circuit panel needed to be replaced, and some other big important part of the furnace was cracking and rusting and heading south fast. Carbon-monoxide City, to be exact.

Repairing the (16 year)old furnace would cost about as much as a brand new one (after the rebates and tax refunds), so before I knew it I was applying for their 36 month payment plan. I signed on the dotted line and then they left.

They were the diagnostic and repair team. The out-with-the-old and in-with-the-new guys showed up about 45 minutes later. Again, Oliver wasn't happy.

They stayed for almost 6 hours. It wasn't until the 5th hour that Oliver accepted them and wouldn't bark at them whenever they came up the stairs or in from the garage.

I reallyreallyreallyreally dislike having workmen in my house. I don't know what to do with myself. If I stay near, do they think I don't trust them? If I go too far away, I hear "Ma'am? Ma'am?" as they try to find me.

If I go to the bathroom, will they hear me? Will they judge me for watching my shows that have been recording for the week, thinking that all I ever do is watch tv all day? How about if I sit at the computer?

Are they checking out my storage shelves and the remarkable number of boxes of tampons that I have stacked up? What did they think when they caught me standing in front of the open freezer door, eating cookie dough? When I eat lunch, do I need to offer them some?

Oh, and while I was holding it all day, they were not. One guy spent a good 20 minutes in the bathroom and I was dying. All I could imagine was that he was on the other side of the door, wrangling whatever wouldn't flush, without the aid of a plunger. And he's too embarrassed to ask for one and he has no idea that the bamboo skewers under the sink are what we use for that sort of thing.

Yes, bamboo skewers. Plungers gross me out. Skewers are long, they can rearrange or chop, whatever the need may be, there's no splashing, and they are easily disposable. Take my word for it, skewers are the way to go.

So this was my entire day. I couldn't go anywhere, couldn't do what I wanted to do, men were in the house and I had just bought a $4000 furnace - I was as big a mess as Oliver. By the time Troy showed up, I was exhausted and had emotionally eaten my way through the kitchen. I made Troy check out the bathroom before I went in.

But I guess when all is said and done (and three years of payments have passed), it's a good thing, right? New furnace, 95% efficient, lifetime warranty and lower heating costs, and that little thing about not dying in the night from carbon monoxide poisoning.

Yes, we are blessed.

But man, that was a long day.

Ho-hum really isn't all that bad.