This was my interaction with Karen, our navigation system, today as I took our new Jetta in to get a burnt out bulb in the taillight replaced (apparently Karen isn't very familiar with the St. Louis Park area):
"Turn right on County Route 25, then turn left."
"County Route 25 doesn't go left!" I turn right.
"Recalculating. Turn right onto MN 100 North."
"MN 100 North is a left turn!"
"Recalculating. In .2 miles, turn right onto Parkside Drive."
"There is no right turn in .2 miles! Karen, you are SO clueless."
Luckily, we just happen to drive right toward the Luther dealership as I'm ignoring her really bad directions. We've been driving around for about an hour now. As I pull up toward the entrance: "Recalculating. There is a better route available."
"Wha?!?! AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Karen sure knows how to push my buttons.
Sometimes I'm not sure who's dumber
Footprints left behind
On our carpet and in our hearts.
Hero went home today.
And he is very missed.
Where does that leave the great puppy debate? Not sure. We'll see how we settle into life without the constant presence (and harassment) of a pooch.
As for our furry fiend (I mean friend): howl on.
Improvements
Despite what the previous post might lead you to believe (who knew Hero could blog? I turn my back on him for two seconds...), Hero and I have actually had a lovely day together. No screaming like a banshee on my part, no puppy temper tantrums on his. All day I've preemptively praised him and given him continued bursts of attention to keep him from misbehaving, and so far it's worked! He's been a little angel, and as a consequence I've spent more time interacting with him, which only makes him happier.
I'm glad we're ending on this note before Hubs comes home. Last night I was practically in tears when I debriefed Hubs on our horrible day. I felt so frustrated with Hero, and like such a failure myself. But now I feel much better. So far... we'll see if I follow this post up with a retraction later tonight...
On a totally unrelated note, I talked with my previous boss Pow today for about an hour. It was so great to hear her voice. I miss her, and the rest of my work crew as well. *Sigh* But, I may do some consulting in the form of training for her this fall, so a return to Boston could be in my near future.
Desperately waiting
When does my puppy daddy come home? He's so much more fun than my mean puppy mama :(
She's always holdin' me down, ya know?
Truce
Hero and I just went for a long run (mostly uphill) - I think we'll have a better go of it tonight now that he's dead to the world on top of the air conditioning vent near the front door, completely exo(e)rcised of his demons.
Just curious
If you cut yourself on a rusty unidentifiable object sticking out of your garage wall, do you need a tetanus shot if you already have an up-to-date one?
I'm going to say no. But I'm not really sure.
Today has been a day of ups and downs. Most of the downs are related to Hero's increasingly BAD puppy behavior. On the plus side, I had lunch with two new friends (wives of Hubs' friends), and spent some time working on the original patch of garden we'd started. That's almost done, and then we have two more dug up garden plots to plant.
Hero will be getting a bath tonight. He doesn't know it yet. I doubt it matters - he's pretty well pissed off at me anyway. I'm not sure what I've done wrong, except for the absence of 24/7 attention (which I'm just not capable of). Hubs comes home tomorrow night at around 2am (so technically Saturday morning) and that ought to cheer the puppy up quite a bit. As for our day together, let's just say some parenting behaviors I'm not proud of have come out - yelling, spritzing him in the face with his "bad puppy" water bottle, screaming, is there a verb for yelling more horrible than screaming? Because I've done that, too. I have lost control of the situation. A, one of the wives I had lunch with today, suggested that perhaps I lost it a while ago when I crawled in and laid down in his pen with him to help him fall asleep. Branded a sucker from day one.
Bullet points probably not really worthy of the bullets
I feel a bit scattered and sleepy since my favorite furry pal has been up since 4:30am. Thus, so have I. Hero's staying on with us through the weekend, so our puppy sitting adventure has been extended. I'll just summarize a little bit of what's going on for us:
- Hubs is at a conference in Philadelphia through early Saturday morning, so I'm alone for the first time in our house! Scary. Thankfully I have Hero, who is nothing if not a fluffy protector (sarcasm, in case you didn't pick up on it).
- Hero has perhaps influenced our decision to get a puppy. In that we no longer feel certain that we want to get a puppy. We adore Hero, and as puppies go he's probably a pretty easy one. He's hypoallergenic, which means he has no dander, doesn't shed, and doesn't smell like a dog. So the clean up is just a result of his sometimes muddy paws. He's got a great disposition, but he's willful and very high energy. The thing is, Hubs and I kind of want to enjoy some us time before we start our family, and our window for that is getting smaller and smaller. A puppy would effectively shut it.
- My mission lately is to tire Hero out. I do this with either incredibly long walks (but not so long that I end up carrying him home because he punks out halfway through - been there, done that, not enjoyable) or runs. The running really takes the evil energy out of him, but some days my legs are just too tired to run.
- It's been great watching Hubs with Hero. Essentially, this is the first time we've really seen one another in action taking care of something that's not us. Hero is, if I do say so myself, well cared for and really thriving. That's one thought on the pro side of getting a puppy: we seem to be pretty good at nurturing one. He gets more and more comfortable in the house every day, which usually is revealed through his increasingly willful and "bad" behavior. But I think those are good signs - he eats better, poops and pees better, doesn't need to have me in his sights at all times anymore (that ones a little bittersweet). He fights me when I wash his little face and brush him at night. He barks at me when he wants something. Anyway, back to Hubs: we're so different with Hero but we seem to compliment one another's style. I'm more business: is he walked, fed, cleaned, behaving? Is his pen comfortable, does he have what he needs? Hubs tends more to Hero's spiritual and emotional wellbeing: he plays with Hero, hugs Hero, verbally affirms Hero, gives him treats, gives him plenty of attention, stops whatever he's doing to acknowledge Hero. Together, it works. Hero gets Hubs' patience and my practical care. I have a feeling this is how we'll be with our kids. One thing I'm learning about Hubs: SOFTY. I mean, wow. SOFTY. Seriously, though, I was always pretty certain he'd be a wonderful dad to our kids, and now I'm 100% on that.
- The small garden area we planted is growing! I'll take pictures once it looks a little further along, but I'm happy to say that some plants I'd given up hope on are sprouting new leaves! I dug up the second garden (of three), but have yet to plant anything there. I might dig up the third one before stocking up on more plants and flowers.
- The bunnies left the garden - I guess I forgot to mention that. They were there about three days or so before they vacated the premises. We'd done some research and learned that their mom may have left them to be on their own, and that people often make the mistake of interfering with baby bunnies who don't need any help. It took them a little while, but they eventually found their way (I don't know where to, but some place other than our garden).
- I really want to see the new Batman movie. I'm not sure when we'll have time. We are so busy, but remember how I used to whine about how busy we were in Boston? This doesn't feel like that kind of busy. It feels like a happier, calmer busy. And one I don't mind as much because most of the work I'm doing is for me, us, or our home. Speaking of busy, job searching is... coming along. We'll see what the next few weeks bring - they'd better bring some call backs if they know what's good for them!
- My family is back from Germany! Whew. I can call them all the time now for stupid stuff. YAY!
Heroics
Hero is a very sweet puppy. For one thing, he's become quickly and ridiculously attached to us. And even more so to me, because I was the one to first inherit him yesterday morning while Hubs was at work. Also, I like to think, because we're wicked fun and take exceptionally good care of him. But as I write this, Hubs is in the shower and Hero runs loyally from the study up the stairs to the bathroom and back again to keep his eyes on both of us.
Otherwise engaged
Look who arrived this morning! We're puppy sitting until Tuesday.
So far (it's been three hours) Hero has proven to be a lot of work! Shhhh... he's sleeping for the moment (it'll be a brief moment, I feel certain...)
High tailin' it in the garden
I couldn't wait to post these pictures!!! This evening Hubs and I took our first foray into the gardening world. I dug up one of the three flower beds in the front of the house and we planted some flowers that we'd bought a while ago at the farmers market. When we were done, I ran inside to grab the camera so I could snap a photo or two. As I came back out the front door, a flurry of furry activity in another flower bed startled me. I had no idea what it was, but flowers and plants were gently moving and there was a lot of rustling and a few streaks of... something? Turns out, we'd frightened a mama bunny and her babies! She took off across the yard, and the baby bunnies took cover. You wouldn't think bunnies are naturals when it comes to camouflage, but it took us a while to pick them out with our eyes.
There were a total of four baby bunnies in various position in the flower bed!!!
They didn't budge an inch for over two hours. Not even their ears moved! Or their little feet.
This lil' guy was my favorite. 'If I can't see them, they can't see me. If I can't see them, they can't see me. If I can't see them...'
I was actually afraid he might be stuck.
Finally (as of the last sighting) they'd broken their original formation and had all gathered together in one spot in the flower bed, but no mama bunny had collected them yet. Hubs and I finally stopped checking on them since we figured we were only further delaying the mama bunny's return.
I asked Hubs if we can keep the baby bunnies if they're still there, abandoned, tomorrow morning. He said they won't still be there, he's sure. But if they are, I'm pretty sure his response can be interpreted as a yes.
Elle is for "Loser"
These are a few of the things I accomplished today:
- locked myself out of my house
- drove the wrong way out of a one-way exit for Cub foods and was stuck there, on the side of the median not meant for people in cars pointing my direction, while everyone else honked
- burned my pinky and middle fingers (why can't I cook without burning myself???)
- got rejected for a job I was really interested in (didn't even get the chance to interview!)
Tonight I found out about my pre-rejection rejection right before we were scheduled to entertain for dinner, and I cried all the way through my shower as I got cleaned up before our friends' arrival. Thankfully my planned menu went smoothly (this was only the second time I've ever cooked scallops), and we had a nice evening despite my puffy eyes and bruised ego.
Now it's almost midnight here, and I hope tomorrow I won't feel like such a waste of space.
Breaking and Entering 101
I just broke into my house through the dining room window, with the help of the neighbor's cleaning lady Deb, much to the dismay of the neighbor's dog Lou who almost had heart failure at my blatant forcible entry.
Note to self: Craftily hidden spare key is for sparing you this headache.
Pain receptors? Check.
Late this morning as Husband was cooking breakfast for us, I sauntered up beside him at the stove to supervise. I put my hand down to hold my weight as I leaned into him, putting my thumb, fore, and middle fingers squarely on one of the piping hot flat surface burners. I could tell you exactly how much that hurt, but frankly typing this right now is making said thumb and forefinger throb. I sat for about an hour with my hand in ice cold water while Husband cut up my turkey sausage and egg so I could eat it one-handed. I've been waiting all day for the blisters to emerge.
I've never had a flat surface stove before, and my MIL has warned me on several occasions not to treat it like a counter top when it's off. Probably for exactly this reason. The burners light up red while they're on high, but if they're on low or have recently been turned off a small red light in the front of the stove alerts you that something on the flat surface is very very hot, but it's hard to see that light and really it's so small that it's not very daunting. Or at least, it wasn't until today. Now the whole stove is daunting.
Earlier this morning we stopped at the farmers market and bought some flowers for the three small "garden" areas around the house. I'd even asked Husband's brother P to bring a shovel over today when he visited so I could start cleaning out all the old dirt, weeds, and unidentifiable plant life currently taking up space there. But both Husband and P nixed the idea of my shoveling with my grotesquely wounded hands. In hindsight, I very much appreciate that they stepped in.
Instead we went to see Handcock, and it was entertaining. Now I'm cooking dinner, including some fresh sweet corn we also purchased. Yum. I'm avoiding the oven and stove top as much as possible, circling it warily with oven mitt in place and caution in mind. I will never touch the flat surface stove top again. It was perhaps a lesson I needed to learn, and have.
A typical Thursday in the lives of...
Things we did last night:
- Watered the house. (Oops)
- Watered the street. (Oh, come on!)
- Watered the swing set. (Huh)
- Went to Loews and bought a new tractor sprinkler! You set up your hose and the sprinkler follows it around the yard so you don't have to move your sprinkler 9 times when you're watering!
Hitting the book(let)
I have to take a written driver's exam to get my new license! They say it's just a formality, that I probably don't really need to study the little book. Ha! Tried that before. When I first moved to Columbia they told me the same thing and I flunked. I had to study and come back to take it a second time with all the other folks who failed (for most of whom English wasn't their native tongue, so they had a pretty good excuse). Fool me once.
Husband's going to wing it. His funeral.
