Yes, I know I haven’t been blogging as regularly lately. I’m trying . . . really, I am. But this little monkey takes up most of my time . . . or maybe just all of my energy.
I think this was lotion — no wait, it was sunscreen. This was from a few weeks ago, but I forgot to post these photos at the time. See what I mean? The days just keep slipping away. The newest, hairy creature also takes a lot of my mental energy. Especially since he is kind of mental himself. He is sweet, gentle, and calm, BUT he has serious separation anxiety so he follows me all over the house (just shadowing me from room to room — thankfully he’s not all up in my face about it) and when I leave the house he freaks out and yelps and claws at the door to his crate.
So I end up trying to take him with me in the car when I can, or dreaming up things to keep him happy when he’s alone: we’ve tried music, TV, melatonin, calming chews, an anxiety wrap, spray cheese treats, clonapin, pig ears, dried bull penises (yes, really!) and several other things that I’m sure I’ve forgotten as they have all either failed or haven’t worked enough for me to tell much of a difference. It’s worse for him than for me, of course, but it would be nice to get him to the point where he could chill out and enjoy a snack and some peace and quiet when I leave the house. He doesn’t know how good he has it — I’d love some Cheeze Whiz and a house to myself.
We were out the other night so the dog could burn off some of his extra energy and we saw this flock of chickens roosting on a neighbor’s wall. They are scrawny things that must run around in the yard all day, but roost on the front wall at night since that’s the only time I ever see them. Other neighbors have a peacock and down the street a guy has a two story aviary in his front yard with parrots and other exotic birds in it. As Josh says, “People see our dog and think we’re the crazy ones?”
I don’t think I’ve shared that Caleb started Boy Scouts. A few of his friends from school were doing it so he really, really, really wanted to do it. Since it meets at school and I have to pick Calvin up around that time anyway, it doesn’t add too much extra driving to my day. It’s probably good for him to hang out with some boys for a change anyway. We usually take the dog and hang out at the dog park for an hour while we wait. That’s where a lot of my blogging time has gone: taxi driving, juggling multiple varied schedules, and burning time so we can combine trips.
As everyone in the states prepares for Fall and Winter, I finally get to put my hands in the dirt. It’s still 100 and humid, but that’s better than 110 and dripping. Today I went to the nursery and bought some vegetable plants and seeds, potting soil and pots. I would love to have some actual ground to plant in, but I’ll work with this. So far I have tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, lettuce, spinach, beets, swiss chard, mint, cilantro, and a few other things.
And then Camille and I fell asleep for 3 hours. I only woke up because I have an alarm to remind me to pick up the boys from after school activities/basketball. Good thing, otherwise we might still be snoozing.
Wednesdays are busy because I pick up the boys and we head to base. Then we have to kill time for an hour or so while we wait for Calvin to finish basketball. He walks over to base, we meet Josh, grab dinner and head straight to Bible Study/Home Group. Our group is made up of several families — we eat, the kids have a short lesson, we sing and then the kids all go play upstairs while we study and discuss whatever is on the schedule for the night. I’m really enjoying it, but it makes for a long day when we don’t get home until after 9 and then have to race to do lunches, make sure homework is done, and get everyone to sleep.
The boys got an after school snack at Taco Bell and when they asked her for a bite, she quickly shoved everything she had left into her mouth. Then since she couldn’t get it all down at once, she pulled most of it back out, satisfied that they wouldn’t touch it with her saliva all over it. She knows how to get exactly what she wants.
I didn’t think I would have time to blog today, but after my 3 hour nap this afternoon, I wasn’t tired after everyone fell asleep . . . but now there’s only 6 hours until I have to get up. Time to sleep!