Saturday Mornings

Saturday mornings are for frosting carrot cake and letting the puppies lick the beaters.

Saturday mornings are for sleeping in.

Saturday mornings are for chores; dishes, house picked up and laundry.

Saturday mornings are for paying bills.

Saturday mornings are for spending time looking at scrapbook magazine while the puppies and roomie take a nap.

Saturday mornings are for making a birthday card for a friend.

Saturday mornings are for making a pitcher of fresh lemonade.

What I Learned This Summer

This summer has been one for the record books. I went on a 48 hour vacation to Delaware which set me back financially - no refunds for early departures. I've been to emergency rooms 3 times; twice for the roomie and once for Callie. All turned out good thankfully. I've eaten watermelon almost daily. There has been ice cream. There have been projects completed; a more organized basement, purging on all floors (thank you The Art of Tidying Up), carpet torn up, laminate down and more. There are projects left to do - display board for my Disney pins. I washed my iPhone 6 accidentally and to say I'm lost without it would be an understatement. My 19.5 year old cat died in my arms. Within less than a year I've lost my fur family. I went camping for the first time in years. I spent lots of time at the beach and had lovely days with friends. And there was also the addition of two cocker spaniel puppies into the mix.

As my first day back to work gets closer I've thought about ways to make home chores less stressful and more productive. I think what I'm trying to say is I want home to be more meaningful and less about the to do list. Here's my plan:

1. Change the day we grocery shop. We've been going Sunday mornings. Great for no crowds - no so great for prepping food for the week. The roomie usually spends Sunday with her family so it's a day just for me. Prepping food isn't high on my list. I'd rather read, nap, craft or head to the beach. By changing our shopping day to Thursday or Friday night - depending on the our schedules, I'll still have time to prep food for Monday and me time. Win/win as far as I can tell. New shopping night starts tonight.

2. Meal planning. This is one of those areas where I talk the talk but don't walk the walk. I want to eat healthier but don't want to put the effort or time into making that happen. If only I could hire a personal chef! Weekly menus are coming back. They will be posted in the kitchen so no matter who gets home first - they can get started on putting dinner together. I'm hoping the meal planning will make meal times easier and healthier.

3. Food prep. To make the most out of the meal planning I'm going to spend time over the weekend getting foods ready for the week. Chopping up veggies,  making salads for work and home, packing snack bags and filling up my water bottles. By shopping earlier in the week I'll have the time for getting food ready. I am also hoping I won't need to rely on prepackaged foods so heavily.

4. Prep every night. When I was a child my Mom used to make me lay my clothes out and get my school supplies ready every night. I want to do that again. I want my breakfast prepped, dog bowls filled and ready for next morning, clothes picked out and supplies gathered. I also want to pick up the house before I go to bed; something I've been doing for a while and works.

5. Switch my Monday night to Sunday. Every Monday after work I gather all the garbage so it's ready to go out to the curb later that evening. And every Monday after work I am tired. My plan is to pull the garbage sometime on Sunday.

6. Take it easy Wednesday. Every Wednesday, no matter how much sleep I get, I am exhausted. And every Wednesday I fight my way through the exhaustion. My new plan is to back off on Wednesdays. I already know I'm tired so I'm going to use that to my advantage. Wednesday will be an easy meal night - think crock pot. Wednesday will be relaxing at home instead of working on projects.

My summer has been busy, enjoyable, relaxing, sad and fun; everything that makes summer so wonderful. As I head back to work I'd like to keep that summer feeling going. Hopefully the new plans will work and I'll find myself enjoying fall just as much. Progress posts will be coming in August.

Right Now

Right now it's 7:04 on Thursday night and all the creatures in my house are sleeping. Fergus is sleeping in the dog bed next to my chair. Lily is under the ottoman in front of my chair and the roomie is asleep on the couch.

Right now we are all tired from our home improvement project. We spent the last two days laminating the living room floor. My Dad and the roomie did the majority of the work. He brought his table and miter saw. He cut all the flooring and did some fancy cuts for the edges of the fireplace. He guided and planned and kept the roomie on track.

Right now the living room looks awesome. It's clean - go me! I put everything back together after my folks left this morning. We moved the dining room area rug into the living room. Looks good but now the dining room table slides across the floor when we eat at the table.

Right now I'm exhausted from getting up early and the physical work. I'm pretty glad I'm still moving and grooving after all these years; though it takes me longer to get up from the floor.

Right now the porch is an absolute mess. It was work station central. There is saw dust everywhere. Carpet and carpet padding which should have been thrown out by now are laying out there. There are two door prizes for an event this weekend; a huge vase water barrel and hydroponic garden. There is also the bad cuts laminated flooring corner. The porch tells the story of our home improvements. Once the carpet and door prizes are gone the porch will get a cleaning.

Right now I'm listening to the soft rock station on the TV. I leave it on while the dogs are in their crate and have grown to like it. I'm also listening to the roomie snore!

Right now the sun is still shining and it's still 70 degrees outside. Grateful for nice weather this past week.

Right now I'm going to head to my craft room. I haven't been in there for days; missing it. Not sure I'll have the energy to be creative; might just day dream.

We Go Swimming

Today I took the girls swimming. I hadn't set out to let them swim but once we got there it seemed like the perfect time to try. It's been hot here for the past few days so the water wasn't too cold. Lily went first and before I even got her in the water her legs started to do the doggie paddle. I loved it. The first time I held her while she headed for shore. Then it was Fergus's try. Fergus is a brave dog so I just let her go and she swam to shore. (Don't panic they weren't more than a foot away). I was so proud of them both. The second time I picked up Lily I let her know swimming was going to be part of her life and let her swim to shore. They each went three times and rested with the roomie in between. I swam in between. It felt so good; soothed my soul.

The rest of this week was busy. Monday and Tuesday I worked around the house. I got the basement put back together. Thanks to the book "The Art of Tidying Up" I've been cleaning and purging. I took 7 bags/boxes of things to the city mission. The basement has been a mess and needed organizing. I didn't have a plan when I started but it quickly came together. Tools have are in one area with a work table near by. There is a wrapping and gift area. Paints and supplies are together finally. All the seasonal totes are on shelves. I get in and out of them often and realized it would be easier if they were on the shelves instead of stacked one on top of the other. There is more to be done but I'm grateful for what I've accomplished.

Once the basement was done I started on the living room. Wow has that undergone a transformation. The carpets is gone. The floor isn't in good shape so we bought laminate that matches the dining room and plan to get that installed within the next few days. The mantel went from dark brown to white thanks to the roomie and we spent last night looking for something to replace the glass tiles.   The steps have been painted; which was more involved that I thought. I want to add carpet strips to the top of the stairs. I'm running out of steam.

The puppies have been home since Wednesday; no puppy school. The roomie has been busy with stuff so I've been on puppy duty. We walk every morning at the beach. That's been a great way to start the day and they usually sleep from 10 until 1, which lets me get stuff done. They take another nap from 3 to 5 so I get a second break. It's 3pm and they have been sleeping since 11 this morning. That swim must have done them in. While they've slept I painted the steps. The roomie will have to do some touch ups but otherwise done.

One afternoon this week I played hooky from puppy care. My friend came to visit and she helped me with getting some work shirts. We had lunch at Chedders which turned out to be a good choice. It was nice to take a break from all the doggie duty and find a great sale.

Tbe week coming up will be busy too. Mom and Dad are coming up, there are doctors visits - two for me and one for Dad. We'll laminate the living room floor and if all goes well the puppies will be back in school on Wednesday!

Doggie School

Dear Fergus and Lily,

For the past two days you've been going to doggie school. I was pretty hesitant about the whole experience. I didn't want to be without you all day. I didn't want you away from home and frankly I thought I raised one puppy; I could handle you two. 

I will be the first to admit I was wrong. I dropped you off Monday and headed home to a long list of chores. It kept me busy instead of wondering what you were doing. I got a lot accomplished; mostly unpacking from the camping trip and mopping floors. For some reason my kitchen and hallway floors were covered in muddy dog paw prints! 

We picked you up at 4 and you were both so exhausted you didn't even come to greet us. Same thing today when I picked you up! The trainer gave us our homework; practice Hi. Hi is a cute simple command. I put my hand palm out towards you; you touch your nose to my hand and get a treat. Fergus got it and today it clicked in for you Lily. Fergus you pick up on everything with ease. The trained posted a video yesterday of you guys working on Come. You were running towards her in slow motion ears flying. I loved it.

Today's video showed the both of you playing with two other dogs. I was one proud Momma to see the two of you playing with other dogs instead of each other. What made it even more special was knowing this was just your second day there. Our homework tonight and for the next 4 weeks is working the command Drop It. I know it will come in handy as you guys grow up. Oh the things Maisy got in to that I wish I could have said Drop It. 

Right now we are all in my craft room. You two are playing and both have done your homework. I've done two sessions with Lily. Amazing to see the difference since yesterday. Pretty soon we'll all head to bed. Must admit I'm pretty exhausted. I was tired when you guys were home all day and now that you're gone part of the day I'm pushing to get things caught up. Tomorrow I'm going to take the morning off and do some crafting. I have a couple of scrapbook layouts I'd like to work on about the two of you. 

Love, 

Momma

What I am Learning

The roomie came home yesterday afternoon and took one look at me and said "rough day?" I had to laugh.

Yesterday I sympathized with every new Mom. I understood how frustrating and isolating being home with a helpless being was. Here I was, with two cocker puppies, feeling lost and alone. I called my Mom to vent and share. Just hearing another adult voice was comforting. I know what you are thinking; they are puppies not babies how hard can it be? Turns out plenty hard - for both.

I took the girls to the beach in the morning. It was super windy and the waves were high; plus we'd just had a storm so everything was wet. The girls didn't like the wind or the waves but played and walked in the sand. I walked near the water because I love the waves! There beach was all ours so I let them off the led to run. Lily joined me at one point and a wave came up and got her wet. She ran for higher ground; shaking once she reached the top. Other than that we all had a great time.

Lily was soaked and covered in sand. Fergus was covered in sand with sandy paws, so I knew baths would be needed. Like most things with the two of them, I needed a plan. On the drive home I decided to bath them in the kitchen sink, towel them off with dish towels and then run upstairs to get a few towels and really dry them. Great idea. What I didn't count on was how afraid they would be of the bathing experience. How two cockers in a large sink will each try to escape as often as possible. How wet everything would get; including me. Not to self; next time make sure you are prepared and the roomie is there to help. We managed to get through the experience and before too long they were both happily asleep in their crate while I mopped up everything up and threw a load of towels in the washer.

Yesterday they figured out how to go under the gate in the backyard; Lily managed to climb the stairs to the second floor 4 times and we worked on learning how to go down the stairs. Treats at the bottom of the steps helped with this. Lily has it down, Fergus is still learning.

The roomie and I took them for a walk around the block after dinner. Oh my. Fergus pulls on the leash. Fergus has such a strong personality; lead dog all the way. I think Lily spent more time being dragged than actually walking. Eventually we made it around the block and home. Both the roomie and I wanted more exercise in our lives; well we got it.

Right now the baby boos are sleeping in their crate. They've been out twice and played with toys in the living room while I had my breakfast. I'm learning their signals for when they need to go potty (cue breakthrough dance). I'm going to catch up on some work then we will be running errands and visiting the kiddos at daycare. PS: Don't you just love those puppy legs?

Crate Training Day 1

After yesterday's fiasco with the pups; decided to try crate training today. Actually we used it last night and for the first time in a week we both were able to sleep through the night. No puppies licking my sleep apnea machine at 3pm made me a happier camper. The roomie was happier too because she didn't have to take them out in the middle of the night and they both slept past 5. All in all a good thing.

I've never been on for crates. I think they are more about the humans than about dogs and after our first day using one, I'm still in agreement. What I am learning is I'm the one who needs trained on how to care and meet their needs.

The plus side of the crate was they really didn't mind it all. They played or slept. The crate gave me time to work, talk a walk and make dinner without having to watch them. After a week of feeling frustrated by the house training it was nice to get a break from being "on dog duty" the whole day.

I tried to follow the New Skete training schedule for the day. It was tougher than it looked and by mid day I had made some adjustments. This morning I was trying to make my breakfast then get them outside. By lunch I made and ate mine before I took them out of the crate. And even though I know what to do I backslide this evening. Instead of taking them outside once they'd eaten I let them play. Which meant they went in the house again. I read about that again tonight and need to get rid of the smell from previous accidents. Dogs have a smell sense and will continue to use the house because they have before...so tomorrow those smells are going to be gone. Tomorrow I will also reinforce with treats; another recommendation from a puppy book.

So what is today's take away?

1. I've got to be present, attentive and show them what the rules/expectations are in order to increase the chances for success.
2. While I am not an aggressive/assertive person I have to be with the dogs if they are going to learn. I find this amusing because my lack of assertiveness was mentioned in my work evaluation. Universe is trying to tell me something.
3. Keep at it. Keep refining it. Eventually it will all click.
4. Today was a whole lot better than yesterday.