Things are "heating" up

Sometimes I slay myself with my razor-sharp wit. Take the title of this post, for instance. It has nothing to do with the weather, a malfunctioning thermostat, or the state of the relationships in this family. No, this has to do with that beautiful creature gazing at you from the header up there (and just in case you're reading this in a feed reader.... or eons from now when this blog has undergone a major image revision, I am referring to our Great Dane, Rory, who just turned a year old 2 weeks ago.) Yes, my "little girl" became a woman this week. *sniff, sniff* Believe me, it was much easier reaching this milestone with my eldest child than it has been with a canine. Oh my stinkin' heck.

If you've never experienced the joys of doggie estrus, consider yourself blessed. Maybe if I had a toy poodle, it would be easier. Actually, I know it would. I remember the little "Sani-Panties" my sister put on her dog. I had no such option for My Little Pony, as one of my neighbors affectionately refers to her. My choices at the local PetSmart were either a disposable diaper, or a denim "diaper garment" in which you insert what looks remarkably similar to your grandma's maxi-pad. OK, probably not Grandma's, cuz they're "beltless." Let's go for your mom's. One scrawny little adhesive strip down the middle of the backside. Which to choose?

We began with the "diaper garment." Reading the boxes, I had to choose between one sized for a weight ending at 90 pounds (XL) or one beginning at 90, and recommended for Great Danes (XXL). Rory is a little over 90 pounds, so I went with the second. (Insert annoying buzzer sound here.) She is so svelte that it's really rather baggy on her and I have actually had to wash it several times because it just doesn't provide enough "protection," if you get my drift. So I went back to the store and decided to try the disposables. First size I try (Large) is too small. Then I get the largest size (XL, up to 90 pounds) and it's still too flippin' small.... They just don't come far enough up her back to fasten them. So the solution I have come up with? "Diaper garment" with disposable diaper as liner instead of the maxi-pad. It appears to be working.

Note to self: Schedule Rory's spay appointment.

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In other news, the boys headed off in the RV this afternoon for a manventure. It was originally supposed to have been all of us, but I thought it would be better to keep Rory at home in her current condition. The boys had been looking forward to going, so Brian decided he could handle it alone. This trip was to a nice RV park almost 2 hours south of here. They even took Campbell with them. From the last conversation I had with them tonight, it sounded like they were having a good time. They'll be back tomorrow afternoon/evening.

The week in review

Obviously I haven't had a lot of time on my hands this past week. It went fairly smoothly, even with all the running back and forth and here and there. Best part of the week was Brian coming home on Saturday. Everyone was very happy to have him back. He got home just in time to see the last half of a scrimmage baseball game between Noah's team and another team. Noah even got to pitch and didn't do half bad.

Today was a full day. Despite turning the clock forward, we went to early service rather than our usual late service (9am vs. 10:45). I had put a half-ham in the oven before we left, so that all I needed to do once we got home was make the mashed potatoes. We finished lunch just in time for me to run to a birthday party with Halle.

While I was gone, Brian and the boys did a LOT of yard work. The boys did the dirty work of cleaning up after the dogs... something that hadn't been done in a while since it is a nearly impossible thing to do during the rainy season. Our yard is slick and muddy when it is wet out, so there is no way to take care of the "stuff" they leave behind. Once they finished their job, Brian was able to mow the yard. They also cleaned out the front flowerbed. And when I say "cleaned out," I mean it. They removed everything. Not sure yet what we'll fill it back up with. It's a very sunny location, so we'll have to find something that does well in full sun.

I ended up going out again for various things... dog food for Rory, a CostCo run for stock-up items from the coupon sale that ended today, and to return movies to Blockbuster. Got home with enough sunlight left to play ball with Rory in the back yard.

Speaking of Rory, Brian said he took both dogs for walks while I was gone (separately), and said his walk with Rory took twice as long as the one with Campbell because of all the people who wanted to meet them. She does draw a lot of attention and gets many compliments because of her gentle temperament. People also notice how calmly she walks with us, rather than trying to take us for a walk.

Oh, one other cool thing from the week: Emily's select choir from school received a "command performance" at the music festival they attended this week. Only the groups that receive a superior rating from the adjudicator get to sing at the concert at the close of the festival. Emily text-messaged me to let me know and thought it was quite funny that I wasn't there to hear them sing (she had a descant duet with a tenor on their performance piece). Hopefully someone videotaped it and I will get to see/hear it.

Playing catchup

So last Sunday I was ready for the weekend to be over, and tonight I am actually ready for it to start. (Although I dare say this weekend will be full of all kinds of work around the house again...)

It's been a jam-packed week of activities, none of which included moving furniture. Of course there was the usual running to and from Emily's school, with occasional stops for Starbuck's on the way. I don't think I ever told about the morning I drove through Starbuck's after dropping Emily off. Rory was in the front passenger's seat and wanted to share my hot chocolate with me. The barista volunteered a cup of whipped cream to entertain her. She *loved* it. And I was able to drink my hot chocolate in peace.

On Wednesday, the kids and I attended KUDOS (Kids Understanding Deployment OperationS) with our neighbors. The kids got were issued "uniforms" (desert-colored t-shirts with the KUDOS logo on them), got some camo face paint, and went through "out-processing", where they received dog tags, "passports," and some other gear (including a pocket Bible). They got to see chem gear, satellite equipment, and walk through a C-5 airplane (these are huge cargo planes that are large enough to carry 6 Greyhound buses, plus passengers upstairs). They learned a little bit about some military customs (coin checks), saw examples of ordnance (land mines, mortars, etc.), tried on protective gear, and manned a fire hose. All that, then they received a "homecoming" complete with flag-waving and music. Our neighbor and her children were decked out in some of her husband's flight suits, so they definitely looked the part. They were actually interviewed by an NBC station (one that we don't get here, for some reason).... I am waiting to see if there is ever anything put up at the website to see from that. One of the local papers also interviewed my friend and published a picture of our group walking across the tarmac after deplaning the C-5; one of her kids and Halle are very easy to see in it. Unfortunately, this newspaper only allows subscribers online access, so I couldn't even see the article online.

Today the kids were treated to some fire safety lessons. They got to go through the base fire department's "fire trailer," which offers a simulation of the kind of smoke you could have if your house were on fire. The kids were able to see (or not see, as the case may be) how difficult it was to see anything through the smoke (the fireman explained that "real" smoke would be even harder to see through) and practice getting down under the smoke and evacuating the trailer by exiting a window and using a fire escape ladder. In addition, the older kids were able to operate some simple liquid fire extinguishers.

And while we're on the subject of fire safety: A friend sent an article to our homeschool list about a news story about the usefulness of smoke alarms. It appears so many children sleep through them, that they really don't do the job they are intended for. If you or someone you love has children, please read this news story.

I wound up not attending our homeschool group meeting last night... I opted for praise choir rehearsal instead. This weekend, the church is celebrating its 20th anniversary with a large outdoor service and I will be helping out by adding my voice to the praise choir. We'll have to take 2 cars on Sunday, because I will need to be there at 8:30 (service starts at 10).

I was able to serve at Celebrate Recovery tonight by being part of the 3-person worship team for it. I really love using my voice like this... a few people were talking to me afterwards tonight about it and I said that I felt about singing the way Eric Liddell (the Christian runner in Chariots of Fire) felt about running. He said, "I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run I feel His pleasure." When I sing, I feel God's pleasure. Is there anything you do that causes you to feel His pleasure?

I guess I've gone on long enough... you know this week will be more of the same, plus getting ready for a birthday sleepover next Friday night for Halle's 9th birthday. Hopefully we will get a lot done as far as cleaning and rearranging furniture before then!

It will only get better

So today was the first day of school for everyone here. One of the best things about today was that I didn't have to wake up Emily. Last year, I would go in her room every morning to wake her; most mornings she would get up right away, but there were a few in which I would go back 15 minutes later to find her back asleep. When I told her last week that this year I wanted her to be responsible for getting herself up, she agreed without any argument. Yay for me! Even though she was up a lot later than she probably should have been on the night before her first day, she still got up on time, so that was a definite plus to the day. (Of course, she did come home and fall asleep on the couch after school... and it was only a half-day!)

We let the dogs come along on the ride to her school and all was well until about 5 minutes before we got home. Rory ralphed in the front floorboard under Noah's feet, then climbed into the middle row and had a runny BM in the floor there. We had to finish the trip home with the windows rolled down! Thank goodness for the rubber floor mats in those two rows! Certainly made the cleanup when we got home much easier. She's been fine the rest of the day... but I didn't tempt fate by letting her go with us to pick Emily up!

Not only was Emily's day a short one, but so was the one here at the house. I am still waiting for my books for Tapestry of Grace to arrive, so we haven't begun that yet. Today was spent with mostly "bookwork,": handwriting, math, Wordly Wise (vocabulary), and Reading Detective (reading comprehension and analysis). Things seemed even more hectic than our usual first days, with everyone wanting individual attention all at once. It seems to be like that every year.... it always takes us a while to find our rhythm, but today was especially so. Halle, who loves math, had a bit of a meltdown when she couldn't remember some of her multiplication facts. We really should have kept on with math through the summer, as I had planned... that probably would have prevented that, but with the move and the kids getting to know their new friends (none of whom had much of a structured schedule this summer), I let that slide. Joel started a new level, so he will be doing a little bit of review anyway. Noah is nearing the end of his book; we will do some review to make sure he still remembers what he was working on before we finish it up and he begins the next level.

Anyhow, we were able to get that work done with enough time left over for me to fold a couple of baskets of laundry while we all listened to Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince on CD, getting the laundry done before needing to leave home in time for Emily's 11:30 am dismissal from school.

Now I have a list of supplies that Emily's individual teachers have requested her to have: 3-ring binders, white-out, hole punches, index cards and storage, stapler, geometry supplies (compass, protractor, graph paper). I'll probably work on getting these things either tomorrow afternoon or over the weekend.

Tonight is the base homeschool group's first meeting of the year. Since I volunteered to take over the Scholastic Book Club ordering for the group this year (the former holder of this position moved... in fact, I live in her old house!), I need to be ready to give a little talk about it to the rest of the group.

Here's hoping tomorrow goes just a little bit smoother on the homefront.

Ready for the weekend

These last 3 weeks have been rather crazy, what with Brian being gone for 13 out of the last 16 days. The kids' playmates were also gone for part of that time, which makes for longer days as well. But all is back to normal (or some version thereof) now.

See the pretty flowers Brian sent me yesterday for our 21st anniversary? I love the colors.... the flowers are actually a little more purple than they look in the photo.

He got home a little after 8:30 last night. The 3 younger kids were spending the night next door, so we went over to see them before they headed to bed. Our house was rather pleasantly quiet after we got home, since Emily was the only one here besides us. It was kinda nice not having to wrangle kids to bed or wrestle them out of ours.


The dogs are doing so well. I took this picture of them napping together yesterday.


Of course, they don't spend all their time together napping:

This is one of their favorite pastimes, tug-of-war. You never know which one will initiate it, although Rory is probably the main instigator. Sometimes she reminds me so much of a child, the way she will get a toy and just go over and dangle it in front of Campbell as if to say, "Look what I have..." I have as yet to get a really good picture to show how much she has grown and how much bigger than Campbell she is now. Earlier this morning she was standing on top of him and his back was fully underneath her... he only had to lower his head. I wonder how long it will be before he can just walk under her without even brushing her stomach?

Rory went to the vet at the beginning of the week. She was just under 40 pounds. That was a weight gain of almost 15 pounds in 3 weeks! Her puppy class graduation is this Sunday evening; she'll get to show off what she's learned, including her new trick we have been working on this week. She now does a "high five" or "gives paw".

If any of my regular readers remember me talking about my friend Jenny (the one we met on our second Disney cruise, and who met up with us at Disney World last Christmas), she has finally joined the blogosphere. Go give her a look-see!

Don't know what this weekend will bring. It is our last weekend before Emily goes back to school on the 23rd. Hopefully we'll find time for some fun.

One more picture of the puppy before I go:

Dogs and dollars, anesthesia scholars

A Great Dane is not a cheap animal to love. I knew that intellectually when we brought Rory home. That fact was made much clearer to me this weekend when I had to buy her a new crate and crate pad, since she has rapidly outgrown the one she was shipped in. $225 later, she has a room of her own in which she can stretch out. She hasn't fallen in love with it yet, but Campbell likes it a lot. He goes in and lays down every chance he gets. I think he likes her pad... it's a thick egg crate material with a lambswool cover. I'll probably get one to fit his crate eventually. Maybe Santa can bring it for him.

Anyhow, a little humor goes a long way in cushioning the financial pains and strains of loving one of these "gentle giants," so I'll share with you all the Dane Owner's Checklist. I have already heard some of the comments mentioned here, and my baby isn't even BIG yet!

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Brian leaves for Denver tomorrow for the annual AANA convention. I get to play airport shuttle again in the morning. He'll be gone for a week or so. I still don't have all the info. I'll get it later tonight, probably. He may have another meeting to run off to a few days after he gets back, as well. August always seems to be a busy month because of the convention and getting ready for school.

Anyone still here? Anyone finished Book 7?

I know, it's been a while. I have been trying to keep up with things around here and limiting my time online. I can't even begin to remember what we've done around here in the last week, so I won't even try to write about anything more recent than the last day or 2.

I took the kids to Borders on Friday night to the Harry Potter Deathly Hallows Ball. Some of our neighbors were going (they had pre-ordered there at Borders, unlike me... I did the Amazon pre-order). The kids had a a great time participating in some HP Trivia and enjoyed free samples of drinks from the coffee bar (not coffee drinks). Things started getting pretty crazy around 11:45 or so, so we came on home.

Emily had me take her to the BX late yesterday morning. She bought her own copy of Deathly Hallows and began reading it shortly after we got back. Brian dragged me out to the garage to help him get it cleaned out so I could park in it. My book arrived about halfway through the process and I hated putting it aside until we were done. I finally began reading around 5pm, but had to stop several times for dinner prep and the meal. Once we were done eating, it was nothing but Harry, though. I finished up around 11 or so. No spoilers here from me, but I am convinced JK Rowling is a pure literary genius. Loved the book. I will definitely reread it at a more leisurely pace the next time.

Today I have a TON of laundry to fold and put away. Part of the work we did in the garage yesterday involved going through the bins of outgrown clothing and sorting into items for Goodwill, stuff for the younger kids to grow into, and stuff they can probably wear now. I was washing and drying laundry anyway, but with all the things I pulled out of the containers, I just about tripled my laundry work. Much of today will involve a "fashion show" with the kids trying on clothes.

Oh, and Rory has caught up with Campbell in the height department. Actually, she's just a tad taller than him. Only took her 3 weeks. When I took her to the vet this week for her next series of shots and her microchip, she had gained 8 pounds in 3 weeks as well. I'll try to take pictures to post soon.

Settling in and settling down

Still getting settled in the new place. It's only been 2 weeks and most of the rooms are together. Still left to unpack: 5 "mirror packs" of things from the walls of the old house and 2 boxes of books, papers, and "stuff" from the schoolroom/office. Being that there isn't a "schoolroom/office" in this house, I am holding off on those items until I am able to sort through all that is already unpacked and get it organized. I'll be reboxing some books and storing them in one of the storage areas here or in the garage in order to make room for our school things. I'll probably be looking for some kind of drawer-type storage I can keep here near this table/desk, since my old computer desk is in storage (too large for these accommodations).

One of the things I have done a little of and hope to finish up is cataloging my books with Library Thing. I think I will wind up getting a paid account. $25 isn't bad for a lifetime of being able to keep track of all my stuff. This thing just speaks to my anal side (Eww. That doesn't sound right.)

The house phone finally works. Took over a week for Comcast to fix it. Part of it had to do with them not disconnecting at the other house for some stupid reason. I still have to call and talk to them to make sure we don't get double-billed and are credited for the 10 days with no service. I think a month free would be great compensation for the frustration and inconvenience.

Rory is settling in very well. She is learning the routine quickly and knows that right after she finishes eating, she is supposed to go outside; she heads straight for the back door after she's done. We keep the door to the laundry room (where the dogs' food and water are kept) shut, so she will go there and sit (and alert us if we don't notice her) if she gets thirsty during the day. Campbell is learning the fine art of doggie play and the two of them can often be found chasing each other outside or rolling around on the floor in the living room. Rory is growing quickly and is almost the same height as Campbell now; it will be interesting to see how things change as she gets bigger than him!

Can't believe this summer is almost half over. Just 6 more weeks until Emily goes back to school. I've really enjoyed not having to take her to school every day. I guess I should savor these days while they last.

New house, new addition

If you're reading in a feed reader, you won't see the blog header change. You have to see it... so go look. I'll be here when you get back.

Questioning my sanity yet? (As if none of you were before. Yeah, right.) So yeah, we have a new addition in our scaled-down home.

Here's how it went down: the movers came to pack us up last Monday and decided that they would be able to get it all done that day and move us into this house the very next day. Packing went quickly, moving day not so quickly. The guys didn't finish up until after 7pm. Thankfully, we all had beds to sleep in, even if the rest of the house was a mess. I worked feverishly on Wednesday, trying to dig out from under the boxes in the living room, most of which were books. Brian worked in the morning and got home just in time to head to Sacramento to pick up the new addition from the airport.

Meet Rory. She's a 10-week-old merle Great Dane, and the entire family is in love with her. Even Campbell likes her. He's learning how to play... they are a lot of fun to watch. (Please ignore Campbell's shaggy do... he needs a groom; that's on my list of things to schedule this week.)

Earlier today, Rory climbed on top of him and laid down on him, with nary a complaint from him.

Crate-training and housebreaking are going well. She is a total doll and I'm already totally attached to her.

Anyhow, so far we have the kids' rooms all unpacked and together, and I finished the kitchen today. Tonight we had our first home cooked meal in over a week.

We are without a landline phone right now. When it works, we have the Comcast Digital Voice service. It worked for 3 days and then Saturday it was no longer working. When someone calls our number, they get a recording that says it is not in service. Comcast is "working" on it.

The kids are in heaven. There is no shortage of playmates... good ones, ones I don't have to worry about. They spend so much time playing and not sitting in front of the television, video games, or computer. It is *lovely*.

There is still much to do here, but just having the kitchen done reduces stress levels considerably. My goals for tomorrow are to get laundry put away, unpack the boxes still sitting in the living room, and work on the master bedroom and bath.

I'll leave you with a few more pictures of the "baby."