New Addition

Monday night, my cousin brought me her dog, a papillon. I'm going to take care of him for a while until things settle out in her life. After she and the little miss left, Riley relaxed a bit and stayed very close to me. I had to work Tuesday and left Riles with my two cats, one of which had taken a distinct dislike to him.

The other cat, Alec, couldn't care less. I had really worried about his reaction since when I brought Deke home he flipped his lid. Actually, Alec was the calmest of all four of us. When Riley came up to bed, Alec looked at him and then looked at me as if to shrug. Apparently I've lost the ability to surprise him (which is kinda funny since I just changed his food to help him lose weight on Sunday). He's still calm, sitting about 4 feet from the dog right now and not caring a bit (but wanting the rest of his supper).

After a few days, Riley did stand up to Deke and growled at him when Deke batted him from behind the chair. No blood has been shed, only a few feelings hurt, but now everyone piles into the bed (which is way warmer than before - hoping come summer the puppy and/or kitties will want to sleep downstairs where it's cooler - or maybe I will...)

Thursday, we got some snow. I don't know the actual count, but it was several inches, enough to close my office. I got to stay home with the boys and work from the dining room table. It was pretty cool. Friday we had a delayed start and I even strapped on my snow cleats (StabilIcers) and took the dog for a walk, which he enjoyed immensely. He's getting to know the neighborhood, which door is home and where to turn when we get to a certain point in our walks.

I'm still getting used to mornings in my house, walking the dog, feeding all 3 boys & myself, and getting myself clean and presentable for work all in an hour. The new feeding schedule for Alec has also changed how I feed both cats. Deke decided he liked the Rx food, too, so I had to put it up when I leave in the morning. Deke has food available all day on a high up spot where only he can get to, but I'm measuring it now so I know he's eating. Deke has also expressed a lot of interest in Alec's wet food so tomorrow I'm going to go get some small dishes and some cans of wet food for Deke so he gets some, too (even Riley gets wet food).

So although it doesn't seem like a big change, my immediate family has grown by one and I'm learning all sorts of things about him, my own boys (one of which is now a "middle child") and even myself. I like routines, I like my mornings, and yet, I can embrace change. Every day is an adventure.

Saturday Adventures

This morning, I took Deke and Alec to the vet. This was an adventure for all of us. I closed off the upstairs so no one could get under the bed and I crated each of them up (Deke hates the box, that's all I can say). I faced them toward each other in the back seat and drove them over to the animal hospital. After examination, testing and shots, everyone was pronounced healthy (with Alec's teeth and weight being the exceptions to this). I left with two cats, new tags, Rx diet kitty food (dry and wet) and a kitty toothbrush and paste (which I still have to figure out).

Around 12:30, Jeff came over and we took a ride on my bike with its new tubes and liners (which we got at the beginning of the month - before we hiked up to Standley Lake). Jeff packed my bike next to his in the truck and we went to the water treatment plant to start our ride. Back in December, we started there as well and went west, today we rode east.

It was a beautiful day, sunny but cool, and we rode under I-25 and over to EB Rains Jr Memorial Park in Northglenn. By the time we got back, we'd ridden 5 miles and gone about 12 mph at the fastest. It was a lot of fun, different from the tandem riding but really fun. I climbed into the truck a bit sore and we talked about what we could do to fix that (besides buying a new bike). Once we were back at my place, Jeff dismantled the saddle and pushed it back to give me some room and he had the right allen wrench to loosen the handle bars and raise them about half an inch. I used the regular monkey wrench and attached the kick stand I got at the bike shop (when we got the tires fixed).

After a bite to eat and some ice water, I went down in the crawl space to examine the ground. The neighbor to the north had had some issues with broken pipes and I thought I should check though I hadn't had any issues myself. Everything is hunky dory in the crawl space (spiders notwithstanding). Jeff, meanwhile, started hanging the Silk banner he had gotten out of the to be tossed pile at the office. I helped with holding the appropriate colored tacks and making him laugh. Oh and moving the car (it's on the ceiling of the garage - looks awesome!)

Once the banner was up, I asked one last favor. I had taken measurements of my front patio area but something was off and I couldn't make the numbers jibe. Jeff, my trusty Stanley rule, and I remeasured the patio area, found my two mistakes, and gave me a head rush or two. We also walked around the neighborhood to see what other homeowners had done with their patio areas, some have concrete poured, pavers, or decks. I'd like a deck, but I think well laid pavers will be a more economical choice. Jeff graciously agreed to help once everything is approved by the HOA. My buddy Robin at work has already offered to help me with the planning (she loves construction projects).

So, my current indulgence of watching a couple of episodes of Monk before bed is, in my mind, well earned after all my adventures today.