Okay, here we go again. I am once again going to do the impossible; blog every day for a week. The rules are easy I have to sit and write for half an hour in the evening with no distractions. Today I am not even going to put on any music. I want to be mindful of what is going on around me. I do have the windows open so I can hear the sounds of urban/suburban Sunday night... a weed whacker,squealing children, my neighbour putting garbage out. In the house I have a dog snoring to my right and as I type this I am watching Oliver try and work up the courage to walk past the broom which is clearly terrifying him. Poor dog. In the next room I can hear Gil industriously blowing the crap out of stuff in the video game de jour. Good on him, he worked damn hard this weekend! Our yard is actually starting to really come together. I just need to dedicate some more time to the pulling of weeds. But I can't right now, I am dedicating my time to you.
I am actually sitting comfortably in the living room and I can see the floor for the first time in months as things have started to make their way back down to the basement. THANK GOODNESS! We don't have a proper floor down there at the moment, just a sub floor but for now it is what we can live with and afford. (For anyone keeping track Oliver just gave up his battle with the broom and went back to his bed under the living room window. That is Broom 1 - Oliver 0.... okay maybe I have been watching too much World Cup Football)
Anyway, the living room looks good. Tonight I was able to sweep and dust. I am still find bits of the dang god bed that Lulu destroyed but I have a feeling that I will be finding those bits for a long time to come. I am so happy to be back in my chair, in my favorite room. I have missed my spot! I love sitting next to the window with that light breeze blowing in on me. I can heard birds singing and the train whistled just blew. Actually it is very quiet compared to the last few nights. Halifax has been in full on party mode over the weekend with 5000 NATO sailors in town and the sounds of music and mayhem have been drifting across the water and in through our windows all weekend. Last night it was SO loud in our back yard Oliver was too afraid to poop. I mean I know my boy is a scardy pup but he can always muster a pooh. I felt like I was torturing him by keeping him out there rocking out to the tunes but it was better then the alternative, me up cleaning dog crap of the kitchen floor at 2am.
Speaking of dogs and accidents.... we are doing very well on that front. One this weekend, Miss Lulu seemed to think that my sleeping until 7:45am was too decedent and she could wait no longer. However all in all things have been great with her. The big turn around came when we stopped crating her. Basically she never gets crated any more. I leave her out all night and all day while we are at work and it has really worked out for everyone. She is not at all as crazy any more. I get to sleep past 4:30am because as it turned out she didn't have to go to the bathroom so much as she was bored and lonely. I am not sure what the "proper" length of time is for a Greyhound to be in their crate, Oliver's crate hasn't really been closed since the first week we had him, but I would say if it works for us that is good enough. In fact I am planing on taking her crate down to the basement this week. I will leave it set up in case we really need to put er in for some reason but as of now I think we can officially call her a house dog. Oliver on the other hand will never give up his crate. He loves it there. That is his place. He spends A LOT more time out of it these days, he loves the beds in the living room but push come to shove he is a crate boy. He takes all his meals in there, will only drink water in there. For the most part he won't even take a treat from me unless I give it to him in his crate. I think we will have that one up for a long long time. It is his security blanket and I am okay with that.
I feel a bit bad, it has been all dogs all the time the last few months but we do still have our two awesome cats. Tikka continues to be mad about the presence of the doggy invaders and spends most of her time seeking out higher ground and hissing. She was recently diagnosed with sever arthritis in her hips which also might account for some of her sour disposition. We started her on new food which is supposed to help with the pain and I have noticed that she is moving a lot better. Did you know cat xrays are REALLY expensive? It's true. But at least we know what is wrong with her now.
Mango on the other hands seems to not mind/almost enjoy the dogs. If only because the dogs going in and out of the house on a regular basis has made it possible for her to sneak out more often. She was born to be an outdoor cat but we continue to foil her at every turn. Poor girl. She is loving the summer weather too because it means that the windows are open and she has a place to sit and dream about catching all those birds and bugs.
Well I didn't think I would be able to type for half an hour straight with now break and no distractions but the clock tells me I am done. Now if only I can keep it up for the whole week. Wish me luck!