Toadfrogs and Elephants

My boss just stopped by my desk and asked, “Are you happy?” What a great boss. I’ve never worked in an environment quite like this one before. I definitely made the right decision in returning to an office environment.

On a side note: I came across a great reverse eBay scam story. The seller recognized a scam and strung the guy along till the end. Instead of sending a brand new laptop, she sent a 3 ring binder with marker drawings and some loose keyboard keys. Read the story here.

Happy Birthday Laurie!

Wade has finally decided to work on his office. He has unpacked boxes (moving boxes from Atlanta) and bought a new leather chair. He has repainted his old entertainment center and end table. Now he has a bunch of books and no wall space for shelves – sloped ceilings all around. The obvious solution was to put shelves in the wall. He started the project on Friday and says he will be done and ready for painting by Tuesday. I’m not holding my breath – partly because I don’t want to paint them. The picture below is one bookshelf. He plans to do the same thing on the other side too.

Today we returned to being a one dog household. I drove to Blacksburg, SC to meet our state coordinator for the rescue group. She took both Jack and Remington to her house till they can be transported on. I forgot to bring a kennel and the two dogs were fighting in the backseat. I decided the easiest solution was to have Jack in my lap. He is a very small Brittany and prefers to be near me anyway. I have to admit, it was a little hard to say goodbye to Jack. The nut named Remington is pictured below.

After leaving Blacksburg, I decided to stop at the outlets in Gaffney – I had to drive right by them. I was looking for dress pants, but ended up with quite a few tops and some khakis. I went directly from the outlets to the mall in Greenville. I was going to make a return, but I definitely bought more than I returned. I now have new pants, new tops, a new ring, new candles, new bathmats, a new wreath, and printer paper. I actually think most of my to-do list got done. Now Wade and I are about to enjoy some Wedgy’s pizza.

Rob and Sarah got to our house around 9:30 pm. I opened the door and they handed me – COOKIE DOUGH! What an awesome thing to bring. They knew I would appreciate it much more in the raw form than cooked. We all four sat down at the table with spoons and glasses of milk. The best part is there is plenty left for me to have all to myself! Maybe Rob and Sarah will come stay again sometime soon.

Remington is gone. Now we are back to two dogs – at least until Saturday. My friend Rob and his girlfriend are coming tomorrow to spend the night on their way to DC. Wade and I did some cleaning and some household stuff. I took a break and the dogs both wanted to be in my lap.

Happy Birthday Ben!

Well, I think I have scared Wade off from fostering dogs forever. We thought Jack would only be with us a few weeks – it has now been two months. Jack is a great dog and I would keep him if Wade would let me (he won’t). Wade warned me that he was reaching his limit and Jack needed to go. I contacted my state coordinator and told him if we couldn’t find Jack a home in two weeks, we would need to find a new foster home for him. Well, we found a family that wanted to adopt him. Then they backed out. Then we had two families fighting over Jack – that didn’t go very well. I’m not sure why it got so messed up. Anyway, finally it was decided that Jack would be going to PA and travel would be April 14th. However, my state coordinator only sent the contract yesterday and no arrangements have been made.

Then I got an email from a concerned dog lover. She was visiting dogs at the Greenville Humane Society and found a Brittany Spaniel. She contacted me and I agreed to go pull the dog from the shelter. I was told the dog was a two year old female. Being a little older and female, I convinced Wade to let the dog stay with us for one night and I would find a place to board it the next day till it could go to a foster home. When I got to the Humane Society, I found a 9 month old male dog who weighs 40 pounds. We brought Remington home and it was utter chaos. He wanted to be Alpha dog and terrorized Madison and Jack. We put Remington in the kennel and he barked and whined and barked. He was impossible to control and very strong. I am so thankful for the great foster dogs we have had in the past. I think Remington needs to be an only dog.

Church was full of new visitors today. Partly due to the huge egg drop our church hosted yesterday – 25,000 eggs dropped out of a helicopter. There were also lots of familiar faces. Nate and Michelle were there – we haven’t seen them in about two weeks. I feel like I’m in withdrawal. For a while we saw them every few days. We did go ahead and make plans to get together next weekend after they get back from a nice, relaxing cruise.

After church, Wade and I had Easter lunch with the Wright’s. Their menu was very similar to what my family was having in Kentucky. The important dishes being ham and homemade mac and cheese. We stayed a few hours at their house and then headed home for Sunday afternoon naps.

I was somewhat productive after my nap – a little painting. Wade finished cleaning his office and started making plans for the bookshelves he is going to cut into the wall. I think it will look great when he finishes, but I know there will probably be some painting in this project for me. It never ends…

Wade and I had a long weekend. (I was about to say “his company”, but it is now “our company”.) Our company gives Good Friday as a holiday. Wade also took off Thursday (he has more vacation than I do). We worked on the house! Wade aerated the lawn, seeded new grass, cleaned his office, painted his old entertainment center, worked on the lady’s house I talked about last weekend, and stripped paint off the back door frame. I worked on the back door. You thought we were done with doors, didn’t you? This is the big heavy back door – the one with a lock. We were trying to get it done over the weekend, but that didn’t happen. It turns out the door had to be sanded down to wood. Someone had put the wrong kind of paint on the door so it was cracking and peeling. I spent hours hunched over the door using a heat gun, belt sander, and orbital sander. I finally got the first coat of paint on the door on Saturday evening.

Happy Birthday Taylor!