Mindless chatter, happy weekend!

kpwlee

Benedict

I can't buy him new ones because there's no room in his toy box until he breaks some of the old ones.  I'm counting on the new puppy for that. ;)

 

If the pup isn't a destroyed B is on his way - he can clear out the old toys in less than 10 minutes 

Excellent, send him over!

Kle, I trained it by encouraging Ben to chew on various toys and clicking for appropriate levels of chewing.  Ben knows what an NRM (no-reward marker) sounds like, I use "uh uh" and when the chewing got too vigorous I'd do that and then ask him for the toy.  It didn't take long, he learned that if he was trying to shred a toy he'd have to give it up, I guess he decided it was more worth his while to be gentle with his toys because it meant he got to keep them.  He knew when he was being gentle because he's conditioned to the clicker so he knew when he was being "right".  

ETA:  During this process he also learned (or I am assuming he learned) that different toys have different chew-levels.  I don't make him nibble like a mouse at a tough black kong, but by starting with mostly stuffed toys and teaching him not to pull at the stitches or fabric, he seemed to pick up that he shouldn't cause holes or breakages in any toy.  

I woke up wayyyyy too early for a Sat. I did get a ton of housecleaning done early though but now I'm super tired. It's sunny but with a chilly wind blowing. I should do some yardwork but I'm tuckered out now. DH has been working on cleaning up the office this morning - yay!! He bought a new all-in-one printer and I guess it motivated him to get organized in there.

I made a huge breakfast of scrambled eggs with veggies, sausage and potatoes. I may not be hungry again until tomorrow.

I was really hoping that my boss was going to retire in the next several months. I truly like him but when he retires, I can go to 4-10hr days and will have a lot more flexibility. Well, he told us yesterday that he'll be around at least thru spring of next year

I have been in such a funk lately about cleaning.  I used to be a super neat freak, but when I got my dogs, that all went downhill quickly.  Lately though, I have not been wanting to clean at all.  I must get off this darn computer and get to it this weekend!

I am excited about the process of moving...even though its not for probably 3 years, whenever the economy starts doing better and we can make some money on this house.  Fiance and I keep discussing where we will move.  We like it here, but I can't see myself living here forever.  We keep going back and forth between Australia and British Columbia.  There are so many positives to both places.  Its exciting looking at houses online for each place though...which is what we've been doing this morning.  This morning was a British Columbia morning, we were looking at places on Vancouver Island. 

Kim, our guys won't play with wubbas, but they are all cuz crazy.  I don't leave them out, but instead I use them as training rewards or special treats.  Bevo destroys everything in his path, but we've been having pretty good luck with Tuffy toys.  They last for a few days, if I leave them out, which is a huge improvement from the 10-15 minutes that stuffies normally last with him.  So far, I've found that Amazon has the best prices for them. 

I am finally home!  Seven screws & a plate later, my hand is "fixed."  We learned something interesting after surgery yesterday...apparently I'm allergic to morphine.  I broke out in hives, & my eyes and lips swoll up.  DH said that if I hadn't looked miserable, it would have been quite funny. 

After checking my hand this morning, they went ahead & put the cast on.  I'm not sure that "gentle" was a concept that the woman applying the cast understood.  I was pretty sure that, more than once, she was actually trying to rip my hand off instead of putting a cast on.   

We leave for Corpus tomorrow.  I have nothing packed.  I don't have things ready for the pet sitter.  Bevo is going to stay with his surgeon for the week, & I don't have his things ready to go yet either.  I should get busy, but I'm not in the mood right now.

Ouch!  Poor you!    I absolutely HATE morphine.  I always feel sooooo dragged out post op so now I insist on demoral instead.  I can wake up from that and feel like I'm actually alert and not totally spaced out like I do on morphine.

So, there MIGHT be light at the end of this tunnel.  DH got an email this morning....basically that they want to interview him on Thursday or Friday so please make an airline reservation and give him the cost so that he can overnight him a check to pay for it.  It's crazy expensive, from $800 -1200, so he's going to suggest that he drive instead.  Not a horrible long trip and he'd rather drive anyway.  Guess I'm rubbing off on him!  there is nothing I hate worse than getting on a plane and being shut in.  Claustrophobic and scared of heights.

So....some crossed fingers would be VERY nice.  Friday will be a year living in this thing and I'd really love to see some light at the end of the tunnel.  SOON!

Oh Glenda, we have our fingers crossed, & we're sending up prayers that the interview goes well.  You deserve good news!

 fingers crossed so hard, my knuckles are cracking!!!

 Amanda I missed something, what did you do to your hand??

I tell you B doesn't give up easy - a stuffie is in the closet in this room and he has been snorting and pawing at the door for about 15 minutes.  He's nudged DH and me and is now back to snorting.  Perhaps his plan is to inhale it

Karen, give the "beast" a stuffie!!!  (I have my ipod playing, & Michael Buble singing "I'm Your Man" just came on.  Every time I hear "the beast won't go to sleep" I think of Bugsy.  Weird, I know.)

I closed the jeep door on my hand Tuesday, & fractured two bones in my hand.   Not my finest moment...

BEVOLASVEGAS

I closed the jeep door on my hand Tuesday, & fractured two bones in my hand. 

BEVOLASVEGAS

Karen, give the "beast" a stuffie!!!

BEVOLASVEGAS

Michael Buble singing "I'm Your Man" just came on.  Every time I hear "the beast won't go to sleep" I think of Bugsy.  Weird, I know.

Beasty has stopped snorting and is right here at my shoulder staring at me - eye to eye. Make the rain stop

there was an open house at a local grooming salon. She just opened her business and was doing free nail trims and such. She also had a dog trainer there so I had him work with abbie a bit. I have mixed feelings about it. He was pretty firm with her and there's no doubt that he got through to her. I have not been able to using pure positive training. Anyway, I took a mix of what he did (corrections) with what I normally do (clicker, food rewards, no treat for not performing right away, etc.) And we made a lot of progress in a very short time. After working with her for a bit, we went to msu to play, abbie saw a dog and started to react negatively, I asked for a sit and she did! That calmed her down right away. Very cool

Hello... you can have an idea how things are here:

We have all packed in french fries boxes (is this the house of a cook or what?). DH just went to work and he is sick... Oh, the worst time to get sick: just when we are going to move. And he is grumpy and complains so much... I love him to death but he is awful when he doesn't feel good. Anyway, I'm well and some friends are giving us a hand tomorrow so I think everything will work out.

I will really appreciate "get well Câline's DH" vibes coming our way.

Amanda: ouchy!! I hope your hand gets better. Good vibes to you.

 Thanks Julie!

 My god.  We just went out to celebrate my FIL's birthday, at a Greek restaurant.  We were all seduced by the Mezze menu (sort of the Greek version of tapas) which was for 2 people, so we ordered 2 of them.  MIL, FIL, DH and I were then treated to NINE courses of Greek food, I actually think I might explode now.

That sounds delicious Benedict!

Fiance just made me one of the greatest salads ever!  Red and green peppers, onions and peeled celery sauteed in sesame oil with basil and salt and pepper, then he threw in some smoked turkey.....we had that over some arugula!

Can someone loan me a cooking guy?  I'm getting kind of tired of cooking every day.  We go out so VERY rarely that it starts feeling like drudgery now and then.....

Although, tonight I've been day dreaming about having a real kitchen again.  Oh, and a bathtub that isn't brown with rust.....but, the kitchen.  Heavens!  How will I manage with a kitchen with more than a foot or two of counter space?  With actual RUNNING water?  Well, ok, if the weather keeps warming up I can have that again in here, but.....not having to step over or move the propane tank every time I need to get in a cupboard?  And without having to move the heater that goes WITH Mr. Tank and half a dozen things in the oven when I want to use it or put a pan away in the drawer under it.....gosh, that's gonna be tough! Hee, not so much!

I'm trying really hard not to get my hopes up too high and not let dreams carry me away.  But, oh gosh, it's hard not to be over the moon excited that something really GOOD finally might happen.  It's been a long hard year and a half or so and I'm so ready for life to start again.  I'll hate leaving Mom, and I hope she doesn't feel abandoned.  But I'll be back on a regular basis to spend time with her, so hopefully that will be enough.

Thanks to all who have already offered prayers and crossed body parts!