I am a lot, a lot behind, but basically you haven't missed much. Though we've had a couple visitors, our life has been consumed by two things: countries and dogs.
You see, sometimes you bring home a dog from the shelter, she plops herself on the couch, and she never does anything she shouldn't do. She gets along with your other pets, doesn't chase cats, and doesn't even need a fenced in yard. Then, you start telling everyone to adopt from the shelter, because surely they are all this sweet, loving, and .... effortless to integrate into your family. (That's my Els-a-bells!)
And then sometimes you accidentally adopt a wild animal. One that jumps everywhere, can ruin a window screen in a split second, occasionally chases cats and other dogs (even if they passed their 'meet and greet assessment at the shelter', needs to run miles and miles a day, and is spooked by EVERY. SINGLE. THING. (And did I mention jumps... ON EVERYTHING!)
Well, that's my Etta. This girl was CRAZY. Like, want to pull your hair out, near tears, totally stressed out because you don't want to have to take an animal back to the shelter- crazy.
But, she wasn't a danger to anyone. She wasn't showing signs of aggression. She wasn't trying to hurt the other animals. She just had no idea what to do, or how to be part of a family.
We don't know much about Etta, beyond being a stray mutt. But, she is house and crate trained (thank God!). She also knew the sound of an icemaker and, along with that, loves to chew on ice. My best guess? She had a home, before she either ran away, or they let her run away--- because did I mention, she's bananas?
But, we adopted her. So, we were determined to make it all work. We barricaded off the living room, with advice from our vet. Keep her separate but able to see what's going on around her. Let her get used to her surroundings, and all the noises that come with living in a house. You guys, when we first got her, she flinched at EVERY. SINGLE. NOISE.
So we sat with her. For days- weeks- we sat with her. We hand fed her food every time she heard ANY noise, we praised her for EVERYTHING. We crossed our arms and refused to interact with her EVERY SINGLE TIME she jumped on us, until she would finally get the hint and sit. And to keep her busy we ran her miles, and miles a day. We bought food puzzles to keep her busy, and a mello jacket to keep her calm.
We started using phrases like 'high value treats', 'polite introduction', and the big one... 'association', everything is about association. 'Oh, I see a cat? I get a treat!' 'Hey, those dogs! They come with canned chicken!' Many, many little introductions of the dogs on either side of the screen totaled hours. And, did I mention it's been cold? So freaking cold.
We went on walks, SO many walks. So many different dog combinations. So many distances away from each other. So many treats in my pocket, to reward any single positive behavior. (So much so in fact, I once pulled out dog food to pay the cashier at Publix).
We started training classes at the shelter, the first of which she sat in the class and trembled in the corner. The behaviorist gave us some tools to work with, didn't charge us, and suggested we try again next week if she didn't seem to phased.
She was thrilled to be home after her class, so the next week we tried again. This time, she shook in Asa's lap, instead of in the corner by herself, and then did some training. (Progress, the behaviorist said-- while still not charging us).
Making matters worse has been Porkchops behavior. Apparently getting Etta flipped a switch in him, and he's so aggressive toward Phenom (though not Etta) that those two can no longer be in the same room. So, more vet trips, anxiety medication, and tips and tricks from the vet. But, nothing was working. He's on freaking doggie Prozak and he's still losing his mind if he even SEES Phenom.
Now forgive me if this is a little graphic for you, but Porkchop has a little... male dog problem. One of his testicles never dropped, essentially making fixing him WAY more expensive. So we put it off, and we put it off. He has always been a bit aggressive, but he's a chihuahua. You know, comes with the territory.
But, now, it's out of control. So, four times the cost of normal doggie snip snips or not, he's scheduled for his little operation as soon as they could get him in.... which isn't until Thursday. When they gave us the date it was over a month away. We all wanted to scream at the scheduling lady. How was that possibly the first appointment available? Not her fault, but my gosh- living this way is HARD.
Porkchop's weird territorial issues aside, we had to keep going with Etta. So, we've been working with her, while keeping four dogs in three separate rooms. It's constantly a juggling act of who needs to go in what room to cycle the dogs outside (making matters even worse, Phenom has taken a liking to digging UNDER the fence. Luckily, our neighbor Sam has been very patient with the whole process and makes sure Phenom finds his way back).
And, Etta has to get more comfortable in the whole house, so before everyone gets up, and whenever the middle of the house is open, she gets free reign (on her harness) to explore.
It is exhausting, and a full time job. But, you know, you do what you have to do.
And while Porkchop is getting worse (a problem, fingers crossed will be fixed soon- the vet seems to think so!), Etta is getting much better.
Now, she happily goes on walks with her puppy siblings. She stops and waits if she gets too far ahead, and isn't so keen to go on her morning runs if someone/some dog isn't coming with her. Just a couple days ago, Asa discovered he can run Etta and Ellie together at the same time.
We've been spending more and more unleashed time in the backyard. She just needs a little redirection sometime (apparently, according to the behaviorist, sniffing another dog for any more than 3 seconds is considered rude), and she needs to learn Phenom doesn't really play.
She's tried a few times. Phenom just ducks and covers. Yesterday, we were in the back yard when Etta came bounding toward him, ready to play. I was sitting on the hammock and saw her face go from 'Oh yea, lets to do this!' to 'Oh no, he's not responding the way he should', before she came crashing over him, trying to avoid a collision as best she could at that point.
So, we're still working on things. But, she doesn't freak out at every noise, she doesn't bark at every person she sees. She let our neighbor give her pets. She knows sit means 'please' and she stays at the door before her walks. She loves her crate, and gets ancy at night to have quiet time in there.
And don't get me wrong, she is a GREAT dog. She gives the best snuggles, she gives plenty of kisses and hugs, and you can tell she wants to please us, just sometimes she's a bit misguided. We also suspect she's still quite the puppy (we had to give up her first vet appointment for Porkchop since he went crazy and the vet was totally booked, so Etta's first appointment with the vet is Monday, and we're hoping maybe she'll give us a good guess on her age).
But all of that is my way of telling you like half the pictures over the last month are of dogs- because, that's all we've been doing. We even enlisted the help of my mom, and my cousin, Jake, while they were visiting. And thank goodness Asa hasn't been working through this whole process. It's like having a toddler. And I can say that, because I've had three toddlers.
The kids have been helpful, we couldn't have done this when they were littler, but Calib can run Etta, and everyone's pretty good about moving dogs around and spending time with poor Phenom, who always has to be shut in somewhere. (Peyton spends some time in the office with Etta at night- and she's a farter, so apparently he comes equipped with Fabreeze)
The cats are pretty unphased by the whole thing. They've been more upset over the recent cold weather than the new dog in the house. They were so desperate for warmth, they even snuggled up with Porkchop and Ellie one night.
Speaking of cats and warmth, it's been really cold for the community cats. Herman/William is the one who hangs out at our house the most, so we opened the garage a little the last few nights with a crate of blankets to give him a little refuge. (You might remember, he's the guy we housed during Hurricane Irma). Anyway, the first couple nights we might have left the garage a little too open. One night we ended up housing a possum, and one night Asa went out to the garage to find a raccoon taking fistfulls of cat food. But, then we closed the door a little more, and since then we've just had a random cat, or two.
Peyton and I also put together 'tube city' for Damascus, since Peyton got some new stuff for the hamster cage for Christmas. And due to the cold, poor Delano hasn't been able to spend much time out on the porch, and has mostly relegated himself to the kitchen where the warm air that comes out of the bottom of the fridge.
And that is your Waterstraut pet update.
So now, on to your Waterstraut people update!
My mom was here through New Years, but it has been hard for all of us to leave the house. Asa had his last day of work on the 29th of December, and then that Saturday night he took Hayden and Calib to see the WWE holiday event at Amalie Arena. (I told Asa to take pictures, this is what I got.)
Also sidenote: See that shirt Hayden got? Two days later Peyton thought bleach was laundry detergent and ruined all kinds of stuff, including Calib's favorite shirt, my mom's Hawaii shirt, and Hayden's new WWE shirt. I even buy the pods now so that sort of thing doesn't happen.
That happened on New Years Eve, and the dogs were being awful, and I was just really stressed out.
Usually on NYE, when my mom is here, we like to take a trip to Venice, where my grandparents lived- but that just didn't seem like a great idea to be gone all day. So, my mom offered to take us out to lunch somewhere closer. She basically spoiled us the whole day to help with my stress levels. That's what moms are for!
We picked BJ's Brewhouse, since they had opened a new one near us we hadn't been to yet. Who doesn't feel good after a rootbeer float and some pulled pork?
Then she took us to Costco for pizza, and drinks and anything else the boys randomly put in the cart (we STILL have mini tacos), and then we swung by Publix for ice cream, and sundae toppings- and firewood to have our first fire in our new fire pit we got for Christmas.
That night we had our first fire, and cooked hot dogs and smores.
Being home on NYE let us watch the last regular season of football too, where the Bucs won for no apparent reason, except to get a worse draft pick (I knew that would happen, they always screw something up!) But, at least we had our drinks! Also worth noting: I never did a 'year in review blog for 2017' but basically, refer back to our Hawaii trip- that was most of the highlights anyway. Though the inauguration was ... um, interesting. And we did make it through our first Hurricane! But, we also had to say goodbye to my grandma. So, some real ups and downs in 2017.
We spent the evening sitting around playing some new games, and waiting for the New Year.
Oh, and we did make our ice cream sundaes!
I would proudly like to say, Calib at only 17 has seen the light of NYE. He said: "This is the most anticlimactic thing ever. We all sit around waiting for midnight and then, nothing really happens."
The next day we watched New Years Day Bowl Games, not that we care that much about college football. But, it was an excuse to have a taco bar.
Mom was leaving on the third, so on the second she offered to take us to do something fun- so to Top Golf we all went! Thank goodness for the heaters (and the donut holes!)
After Top Golf we made a stop by Lowes. Mom had offered to get us a Lemon Tree as a house-warming gift (she hasn't been here much since we moved). After much debate and discussion we actually ended up with a lemon, lime, and banana tree. The Banana tree does best in zones 10 and higher (and we're 9B), but it was like $12, and mom offered to get it so we could give it a go.
The only trick was getting it home in an already really full car, and then the fact we couldn't plant them right away because of the cold weather. We still just have the lemon tree in the ground- and we've had to cover it a few nights- but hopefully this week we'll get to the other two.
Once mom was gone, it really started to settle in that Asa isn't working. Like I said, the severence package is generous, and we'll be fine. But, in the meantime we want to keep busy and take advantage of all this time together (even though we ARE being kept busy by the dogs). So, the night after mom left, we all sat down in the living room and came up with items for our 'Layover' Bucket list.
We do also have a side that were things the boys would like to work on, and chores to get done. Surprisingly, we haven't knocked too many off of this side of the list.
It's also been really cold, which has put a bit of a damper on some of the things on our list. But at least we can always make a fire mid-day to warm us up.
We've also been taking some combination of dogs with us to check items off the list. Phenom enjoys a good trip to the Greenland Grill.
And Ellie and Phenom came along with Asa, Peyton, and me to the Freshmarket at Wiregrass. Saturday mornings were tough to do things before Asa went into the office, so we can hit all the markets now.
Basically, we could stalk 'Riddle on the Griddle' (an awesome grilled cheese food truck) as they make their way around the Tampa Bay area, if we wanted to.
And since Phenom and Ellie have had the hardest times (and been total champs about it), we took them to the pet store to pick out new rawhides.
And while she really loved her rawhide, she also really loved watching the guinea pigs at her level.
We got all the blocks out one night and built a massive block tower.
Asa was pretty excited when he got Mrs. Bernstein Bear to stand on the top of the whole thing.
Then there was the night it took us like three hours to play every single Mario Kart race. We really powered through that one.
Calib was on the added difficulty of having Dipper play with the strings on his wiimote.
Our neighbor Sam gave us an avacado tree, so we added that to our list of things to plant.
Like I said, we did get the lemon tree planted too. I said it'll be good to remember we planted the tree when life had given us a few lemons. Later, we'll literally be able to make Lemonade!
And we hit the outlet mall for the boys to spend their Christmas money.
And then my cousin Jake came to visit! We have been bugging him for YEARS to come see us. Apparently, negative 5 degrees in Columbus is enough to finally push him into buying a ticket to come see us! I loved having him, and I hope he visits again, but I've already increasingly been feeling like I'm living in a nerdy frat house, and adding another boy to the household for a few days didn't exactly help.
Jake wanted to go to Venice (since like I said, that's where our grandparents lived), but I still wasn't comfortable with all of us leaving the house for that long, so they went and had a great day, while Hayden and I held the fort down at home. We had Publix subs and I did some sewing for a family friend.
The next day we went to Five guys and spent some time down at the lodge.
The boys all made a trip to Lakeland to go to 2infinity.
And then there was general laying around, playing some games, eating doritos, drinking Rum, and watching football.
Oh, and general shenanigans.
We were having trouble trying to figure out where to have guests sleep (with the dog situation and all), so when my mom was here Calib gave up his room to her. It worked out so well, I told him he was going to have to do it for Jake. So, it was another few days of trundle sleeping for Calib and Ellie.
And, Jake isn't as not-messy as Calib, who kind of freaks out if you move anything in his room at all. Calib kept noting the clothes on the floor and such. So, I told Jake to trash Calib's room before he left.
We were all amused, Calib not so much. But he was a good sport about it.
We had a good time with Jake, so hopefully he comes back again soon!
Asa and I had a lunch date and checked out Ford's Garage, which was totally tasty.
And then we told the boys we could do another Top Golf trip, but they had to be there before noon when the price went up. Apparently if they REALLY want to, they can get up 'early'.
It was Wednesday too, so we decided to head over to Dave and Busters- since they just built that here too. It was half priced games, we had some coupons, and we shared some food. We had so much fun, and spent a couple hours there. We'll be back for sure, but only on half-priced Wednesday.
Calib isn't taking classes this semester at the college. There was a huge screw up and issue with his advisor, and then they recommended we just focus on SAT's, plus with Asa's work schedule being so up in the air, I guess it's not a terrible thing. But he did get his '4.0' transcript in the mail. (I mean, he only had one class- but he did get an A)
It's warming up during the day at least, so it hasn't been miserable to spend some time outside in the hammock.
We also had our cookout at the fire pit we had put on our Layover List. I will note, I have become one of those Floridians who wear gloves even at 50 degrees (though in my defense it was 45 degrees when I came in.)
Which brings me to last night, when Hayden asked if he could 'stay up late to see the government shut down'. I'm not sure what he thought would happen when the timer ticked down to zero. But we let him stay up for it anyway.
Today we knocked another country off our list (I am so behind on blogs- but we only have 18 countries left!), and Calib had his volunteer orientation at the animal shelter. He's going to volunteer there a couple hours a week walking dogs and such.
Also, Ellie is getting a little stiff from trying to run with Etta so much, so we're now having to have her spend a little time with the heating pad. This is my life now, I'm a dog nurse.
That's it from here. Hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to knock out a few country blogs.
Next Up: NFL Championship Sunday and the pizzas they inspire!
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