1. we've been in the house 4 weeks and it's still a big, huge MESS. It's overwhelming. The kind of overwhelming where you don't know where to start or what to start and so instead you goof off for an hour reading blogs.
2. the dog. The dog which was advertised as good with dogs, is not good with dogs. I spent over an hour getting her assessed by a professional trainer this morning and by the end of the session she tolerated having the trainer's dog about 10 feet away. When we were getting Lucky, based on the description from the SPCA, we had expected to be able to walk down the street & chat with our new neighbours, many of whom have dogs. I expected a happy social dog. Instead, I need to do quick u-turns and redirect the dog and her attention. Otherwise, "big booming barking let me hang myself on my collar & wrap myself around your legs with the leash" fit. Apparently 'good with dogs' has different meanings for different people. She can be taught to tolerate dogs, she has lived with dogs, and with time, she can establish a relationship with a couple play friends, but we'll have to really work on her response to strange dogs.
Sigh. This is a blow. She desperately needs training, and I was hoping to take her to a class but it's just not an option. After a couple months of exercises with us, she might be able to participate in an outdoor class but right now, it would probably not work. Which means I either have to work on training her myself, or hire a trainer privately.
On the plus side, they got the 'good with cats and children' part right. Thank heaven. And she doesn't bark, and doesn't destroy anything, and is mellow and spends most of the time just sleeping by our feet. And she's really sweet.
She's blowing her coat like crazy and I'm vaccuming every day - that's ok, I was expecting that. I just gave her her first bath, which she hated. And now she stinks worse than she did before. Instead of stinky dog, I now have wet stinky dog. Hmmm. And how is this an improvement? I think maybe she was so dirty that I need to do it again, or maybe pick a different doggie shampoo; I had selected one that was hypoallergenic and fragrance free so as not to stress her system any more, and because her coat is so dry and fragile. She won't let me near her with a dryer and as she has had a rough day and it's warm, I just towelled her off as much as I could & left her alone.
3. Hugo's birthday is on Sunday. Yes, it's supposed to be a happy thing. But I'm fried and not prepared. I don't even have a present. I don't even have a firm idea about WHAT to get as a present. And we have a bunch of kids coming over for a party. And the entire house is going to smell of wet stinky dog.
4. A couple people close to me are having mental health and relationship problems. Big ones.
5. work. I spent a whack of time marking yesterday and I need to do bunch of things for the current students - things which need big blocks of time (which I don't have).
6. manuscript. Going nowhere.
7. homeschool. What homeschool? What? I can't hear you. Lalalalalalala. What do you mean it's not mature to stick your fingers in your ears and sing lalalalala????
I'm self medicating with shots of Rescue Remedy alternated with cans of Diet Coke with Lime. I want to be mellow, but have energy to get through the day. I'm not sure it's working.
I ordered pizza for dinner & Roo, being apparently on the same wavelength, brought home a box of doughnuts, and I had the first real laugh of the day when I looked in the box.
That dark thing is supposedly a doughnut. I don't know which is more perplexing - that they make such an ugly doughnut, or that Roo selected it. He says he kind of panicked. He couldn't take the pressure of the Tim Horton's ladies looking at him expectantly and saying 'that's 11 sir, you need to pick one more' and so he randomly picked one out. The one that looks like dog poo. I don't know what it's called but we're calling it Tim's Log.
7 comments:
La la la la la--what? can't hear you. ;)
Hope things get better soon. Maybe forget hiring the dog trainer and hire the house cleaners/organizers? That's what I need!
Well, we closed on this place six months ago and how do I deal with the neverending mess? Leave the country.
Thanks, Roo and Hornblower. My husband and I both had a big laugh over the doughnut.
Yep, we moved in 6 months ago, and it's still a mess around here. I would say more, but 10yo just announced she thinks the bathtub faucet is falling off, so I need to go plumb.
Guess this isn't a really helpful comment, huh. Did anyone actually eat the doughnut?
It's been 8 weeks here and we're still digging out; it just wouldn't be fair if you were all caught:~) Jess arrives Monday and will help strip the stipple off the kitchen ceiling - I don't even want to think about that mess. The top half of 2 kitchen swithches stopped working, no breakers tripped, diagnosis so far...these are wired kinda funny.
We were pretty much done unpacking at 8 weeks but that was only because we had trimmed our belongings down to a level where they could fit in the largest penske drive-it-yourself-without-a-class C-license truck.
At 6 months we could say with a straight face that some days we got everything done that we'd intended to that day. If, for once, we had a list that was a reasonable size to begin with.
It's been a year now and I only stopped using "We just moved here" as an excuse about two weeks ago.
Take the rest of the spring off from homeschooling. Don't start again till you get to the days where it's too hot to get anything else done. Then just start back part-time.
Katy - but then how could I be a control freak about where things are put??? If I'm standing there directing everything, I might as well just do it.
L - that's kind of extreme, dontya think?
gail - I DO NOT want to hear about plumbing. I'm already freaked about the sewer line after reading dooce
eva - hey, nice to hear from you. I have not been keeping up with hs-ca. Can you pls start blogging? :-) I love the 'wired funny' thing. That is SO this house. Full of mysterious switches which turn on lord knows what...
the queen says I can take spring off! Yippeee! (you do know it doesn't really get terribly hot here..... just less wet for a bit, if we're lucky.)
thanks everyone :-)
Your Tim Log is actually a Walnut Crunch. They're very yummy and one of our favorites here in Paterville.
We've been our house, uh...9 months. It's not much better than when we first moved in. Not enough space until the basement is developed. Hang in there!
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