Less Hustle More Coffee

Well the nice comforter has been exchanged for a quilt turned inside out since the color scheme doesn’t match and a little extra layer of a short quilt throw. Not seen are the towels underneath it all. The goal being if there is some kind of accident in bed, we’ll be covered and maybe not have to remove ALL the bedding. The good news is nothing has happened since he is over the digestive issues. The original comforter though had all kinds of smells on it in which he promptly marked. I have washed it but have decided not to put the good one one unless we have company or I get extremely brave, lol. I really like the comforter and those colors will be hard to find again, so I’ll tuck it back until needed.

Here’s some things about Dexter we’ve learned in the week we have had him:

1. He is so smart. He has learned to sit and lay down this weekend.
2. As you know if you read the blog last week he already is potty trained for paper and will also go outside, and he learned to retrieve a tennis ball.
3. He only has periods of “spastic and erratic” puppy behavior, but most of the time is laid back and rests or sleeps and this is welcome ;-).
4. Loud noises scare him. He’s a chicken a lot of the times. A bird outside scared him, sliding glass door plates (his foot landed wrong on one and he thinks they bite), grinding coffee, using the vacuum, using the blender – send him over the edge. Fireworks were not favored, but he calmed with both fireworks and thunder easily when I laid my hand on him.
5. He learns easily.
6. Only today has he responded to “no no” more consistently.
7. He has has explored much of the house and does not seem to care to mark like boy dogs usually do.
8. He slept for the 2nd time ALL night. It’s me that gets us in trouble when I need to get up to go potty and he wakes up too and then he wants to be up for the day. But last night we both made it ALL night.
9. His teeth are very very sharp and it is best to have a toy ready to go when he decides to play, til he learns people’s flesh are not play toys. He’s still learning no no. And we’ve learned that if we Yip, like a sibbling puppy he is quick to stop. But I forget to yip and say no no and point finger and that just makes him bite more and growl lol.
10. He will eat anything, so you have to watch him like a hawk. He particularly loves worms and can track them and pull them out of the grass. Outside walking is not a safe place right now for him without having all his shots yet but we do the best we can as he loves to see and possibly eat poo! “No No” is his name, he thinks.
11. He wants to please but his most persistent desire is to play and chew, but we are so lucky that he is not like that all day like most puppies are.
12. He is calm more than we thought and will sit at our feet a lot of the time. Much more than we anticipated.
13. He is growing and gaining weight and seems to be starved at meal time. So we’ve added a little extra. He was 11 lbs the day we got him and he is now 15 lbs.
14. His ability to adapt to us and our schedule has been incredible. I’m so proud of him.

Things we are working on:

1. Learning no no consistently.
2. Learning sit and lay down commands consistently
3. Learning to stay
4. Learning “no”
5. Redirecting biting/chewing.
6. Learning that night time is sleep time and transitioning from play time to sleep time so that everyone gets a full night sleep.
7. Learning his name and we are trying to use his name more instead saying “little buddy” which we endearingly called Roger and so it’s hard not to use it.

Other Updates

Mom and I had a very pleasant day out Saturday. We took Fancy to be trimmed. We went to IHOP at Mom’s request. Their breakfast and service is very good in the Mount Juliet area. Imagine the service you get at Publix. That is the service the IHOP has. Very nice and happy and pleasant.

Then we went to Lowe’s and bought some shelving, in which we had a very nice young lady to go get a scissor lift and help us with the unit mom wanted which was on the top shelf and out of reach. They didn’t have the size she wanted within reach. But we saw one on display and the lady found it for us. Then we went to her bank to cash a check and since the bridge was closed at Providence due to construction we went all the way to Donelson to Kohl’s simply because we could get there. Mom thought it was too far out but it was a lot of red lights. We’d have been stuck in interstate traffic for hours had we gone to Belk. Anyway, she found a purse she wanted and even bought me one when I found totes on sale for $18 and couldn’t decide which – she said “aww you buy one and I’ll get the other”. But she bought me breakfast. Anyway that was nice. I will enjoy one now (a yellow one) and one at the end of the summer which has a more rust look. I’ll show these to you eventually when I get time to change purses, lol.

George fixed a seafood feast last night. Scallops and shrimp and clam strips and onion rings. My favorite was the shrimp pasta with mizithra cheese.

So since I had Saturday out, George offered to take Mom to church yesterday to give me a day at home. It is what my soul needed. My most productive time in the house is in the mornings. I was able to get laundry done, kitchen cleaned and get some of the dogs things organized. I changed both sheets on our bed which needed it desperately. The only thing I did not get done is the ironing for this week. So I will work on that some in the evenings. I decided I better take the time to do voiceovers while the dog was sleeping and George was out of the house. I got way more done than I thought. I enjoyed the time so much getting to be creative and have some hobby time, a day of both productivity and rest. While many got their worship time in yesterday for an hour or two, I will get in 5 hours of worship this week in a study I’m listening to while on the road. And prayer time as well on the road.

Anyway, I need to go but here is the kitchen area with the new baskets I bought. There were not cheap but I needed them and wanted them to look nice since they are in the kitchen where we also entertain at times. We are reaching for these things a lot now and it’s just the best place to put them out of reach from the dog.

Then Little Roo is at the beach and wearing his airplane shirt. He did good on the plane ride. Loves the beach, but not the waves! He did great without a nap and was flexible. He gets to be with cousins.

Ok, so, this week? Well, we get the Hello Fresh shipment in today and we’ll square away which meals for next week. Mom has her hair appointment Tuesday. The lady we like, left the salon so we had to be placed under a new stylist. And so Mom’s is this Tuesday when mine was supposed to be, but hers needed to be the later appointment since I have to go to Lebanon to get her. And mine is next Tuesday I think.

So, I think we have a pretty good week of being home with the dog, getting ironing done, and cleaning some and working on the to do list as well as keeping up the blog and working on the next video.

The next video is actually about 30 years of marriage, our anniversary and going through our freezer, as well as a few local spots in the area. So hopefully I can crank this one out soon. I gained a subscriber that also left a nice comment so that was good. And the past video did double well as compared to most of the rest, so that was refreshing.

Ok need to get to work and I’ll see you all mid-week and that is really all I know to share right now! Ya’ll have a great week head!